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MASSENET 

AND  HIS  OPERAS 


Phutnuraph  b-j  H.   M 


JULES  MASSENET 


MASSENET 

AND    HIS   OPERAS 


BY 

HENRY  T.  FINCK 

\\ 

AUTHOR   OF 

"  Grief  and  His  Music,"  "  Wagner  and  His  Works," 
"Success  in  Music  and  How  it  is  Won,"  Etc.,  Etc. 


NEW  YORK :  JOHN  LANE  COMPANY  :  MCMX 
LONDON :  JOHN  LANE,  THE  BODLEY  HEAD 


Copyright,  1910,  by 
JOHN  LANE  COMPANY 


PUBLISHERS   PRINTING  COMPANY,  NEW  YORK,  N.Y.,  U.S.A. 


TO     MY    WIFE 

Music 
Library 


11CS277 


CONTENTS 

M/M 

I.  MASSENET  IN  AMERICA 13 

II.  BIOGRAPHIC  SKETCH 21 

Parents  and  Childhood.  At  the  Conservatoire. 
Happy  Days  in  Rome.  Marriage  and  Return  to 
Paris.  Concert  Hall  Successes.  In  War  Time. 
A  Sensational  Sacred  Drama.  More  Semi-religious 
Works.  Professor  and  Member  of  Institute. 

III.  PERSONAL  TRAITS  AND   OPINIONS.   .    .       59 

A  Pen  Picture  by  Servieres.  Sensitiveness  to  Criti- 
cism. The  Fair  Sex.  Patriotism  and  Friendships. 
Wagner  and  Other  Masters. 

IV.  FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS 75 

Thai's.  Le  Jongleur  de  Notre  Dame.  Hfrodiade. 
Sapho.  Griselidis. 

V.  FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS 131 

Manon.    Werther.     Le  Cid.     La  Navarraise. 

VI.  THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS 179 

La  Grand'  Tante.  Don  C6sar  de  Bazan.  Le  Roi 
de  Lahore.  Esclarmonde.  Le  Mage.  Le  Portrait 
de  Manon.  Cendrillon.  Cherubin.  Ariane.  The"rese. 
Don  Quichotte. 

VII.  LIST  OF  MASSENET'S  COMPOSITIONS.  .    229 

A:  Stage  Works.  B:  Principal  Choral  Composi- 
tions. C:  Songs  and  Duos.  D:  Instrumental  Pieces. 

BIBLIOGRAPHIC  NOTE 237 

INDEX. 241 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

JULES  MASSENET Frontispice 

PACING  PAGE 

OSCAR  HAMMERSTEIN 12 

MAURICE  RENAUB 16 

LETTER-FACSIMILE 66 

CHARLES  DALMORES  AS  NICIAS  IN  "THAIS"    ....    82 

MARY  GARDEN  AS  THAIS 84 

MAURICE  RENAUD  AS  ATHANAEL  IN  "THAIS".    ...    86 
CHARLES  GILIBERT  AS  BONIFACE  IN  "L.E  JONGLEUR  DE 

NOTRE  DAME" 100 

LINA  CAVALIERI  AS  SALOME  IN  "HERODIADE".    .     .     .no 

RENAUD  AS  HEROD       112 

LINA  CAVALIERI  AS  SALOME  IN  "HERODIADE".    .    .     .116 

MARY  GARDEN  AS  THA!S 126 

GERALDINE  FARRAR  AS  MANON 142 

GERALDINE  FARRAR  AS  CHARLOTTE  IN  "WERTHER".    .  164 
GERVILLE-REACHE  AS  HERODIAS  IN  "HERODIADE"    .  172 

CHARLES  GILIBERT 176 

LINA  CAVALIERI 206 

DON  QUICHOTTE 220 

FACSIMILE  ELEGIF. 232 


MASSENET 

AND  HIS  OPERAS 
I 

MASSENET    IN   AMERICA 

IN  THE  annals  of  music  in  America,  the 
name  of  Oscar  Hammerstein  will  be 
inseparably  associated  with  that  of  Jules 
Massenet.  Previous  to  the  opening  of  the  new 
Manhattan  Opera  House  in  New  York,  on  De- 
cember 3,  1906,  several  of  the  Massenet  operas 
(Manon,  Werther,  Le  Cid,  La  Navarraise)  had 
been  sung  at  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House,  or 
at  the  old  Academy  of  Music;  but,  although 
eminent  singers  appeared  at  some  of  these  pro- 
ductions, they  were  not  usually  carried  out  in  the 
true  Gallic  spirit,  and  hence  failed  to  make  a  last- 
ing impression.  Consequently  the  operas  named 
appeared  seldom  on  the  house  bill  and  there  was 
no  inclination  to  experiment  with  the  other  works 
which  this  composer,  so  popular  abroad,  was 


i4       MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

producing  at  the  average  rate  of  one  every  two 
years. 

A  complete  change  in  the  situation  followed  the 
establishment  of  the  Manhattan.  To  begin  with, 
its  auditorium  was  not  one  of  those  vast  spaces 
in  which  subtle  shades  of  vocalization  and  facial 
expression  and  orchestral  delicacy  are  dissipated. 
This  was  an  important  factor.  In  the  second 
place,  Mr.  Hammerstein  pursued  the  wise  policy 
of  bringing  over  from  Paris  practically  the  whole 
personnel  of  the  Opera-Comique,  including 
artists  who  had  helped  to  create  some  of  the 
operas  of  Massenet  under  his  own  supervision. 
He  was  also  fortunate  in  having  secured  the  in- 
valuable  services  of  Cleofonte  Campanini,  whose 
passion  for  rehearsing,  and  wonderful  insight  into 
the  refinement  and  esprit  of  French  music,  were 
the  third  important  factor  in  the  successful  trans- 
planting to  American  soil  of  not  only  the  operas 
of  Massenet,  but  of  other  Parisian  composers — 
Debussy  and  Charpentier — who  had  been  pre- 
viously neglected. 

During  his  first  season  Mr.  Hammerstein  in- 
cluded only  one  Massenet  opera  in  his  repertory — 
the  familiar  La  Navarraise — although  he  had 
among  his  singers  MM.  Renaud,  Gilibert,  and 
Dalmores.  But  he  had  no  women  singers  of  the 
French  school  to  match  them.  For  the  second 


MASSENET  IN  AMERICA  15 

season  he  brought  over  Miss  Mary  Garden,  who, 
although  born  in  Scotland  and  brought  up  in  the 
United  States,  had  become  a  queen  of  the  Parisian 
stage,  acknowledged  superior  to  all  French  rivals 
in  her  line.  With  her  and  M.  Renaud  in  the  cast 
he  produced,  on  November  25, 1907,  Thais,  with  a 
sensational  success  that  did  not  abate  but  actually 
increased  during  the  following  seasons,  in  which 
four  other  Massenet  operas  were  produced,  at 
this  house,  in  the  true  Parisian  style — Le  Jongleur 
de  Notre  Dame,  Hgrodiade,  Sappho,  Grisilidis. 

If  the  other  operas  in  the  Manhattan  repertory 
had  drawn,  as  large  audiences  as  some  of  the 
Massenet  works — notably  Thais  and  the  Jongleur 
— Mr.  Hammerstein  might  have  been  able  to 
keep  up  his  plucky  fight  against  the  millionaire 
directors  of  the  Metropolitan  some  years  longer. 
Lovers  of  French  opera  will  never  cease  regretting 
that  he  was  obliged  to  give  up  the  unequal  con- 
test. He  would  have  doubtless  produced  others 
of  Massenet's  operas,  particularly  Le  Roi  de 
Lahore,  Esdarmonde,  and  Don  Quichotte.  How- 
ever, the  American  public  now  knows  the  calibre 
of  this  Parisian  composer. 

The  growing  interest  in  these  operas  and  their 
composer  induced  John  Lane  Company  to  ask  me 
to  write  a  book  on  them — a  thing  which,  strange 
to  say,  does  not  yet  exist  in  the  English  language. 


16       MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

I  gladly  consented,  as  I  admire  Massenet's  music, 
partly  because  of  its  refined  orchestral  colouring 
and  piquant  harmonisation,  partly  because  of  its 
frank  and  ingratiating  melodiousness — a  rare 
thing  in  these  days  of  rampant  cacophony  and 
contrapuntal  algebra  d  la  Strauss  and  Reger.  In 
my  opinion,  Bizet,  Saint-Saens,  Gounod,  and 
Massenet  reflect  the  true  spirit  of  France  much 
more  accurately  than  do  certain  eccentric  innova- 
tors of  our  day;  and  for  that  reason  I  like  not  only 
to  hear  their  works  but  to  trace  their  origin. 

The  architecture  of  this  volume  may  seem  odd 
at  first  sight,  but  I  believe  that  most  of  my  readers 
will  approve  of  it.  After  the  sketch  of  Massenet's 
career  and  personality,  I  have  introduced  a  chap- 
ter describing  the  five  operas  heard  at  the  Man- 
hattan, as  these  were  chiefly  responsible  for  our 
increased  interest  in  Massenet.  Then  follow  the 
four  operas  given  at  various  times  at  the  Metro- 
politan. Of  these  nine  I  could  write  from  my 
own  experience.  The  others,  included  in  a  third 
section  as  the  less-known  operas,  I  have  never 
heard,  and  was  therefore  obliged  to  depend  on 
newspapers  and  books  for  my  remarks  on  them. 

The  only  objection  I  can  see  to  this  arrange- 
ment is  that  the  operas  are  not  given  hi  chrono- 
logical order.  As  this  order  is,  however,  indicated 
in  the  list  of  works  at  the  end  of  the  volume,  any- 


Copyright  by  Mithkin  Studio,  ff.  T. 

MAURICE    RENAUD 


MASSENET  IN  AMERICA  17 

one  who  chooses  is  at  liberty  to  follow  it  in  reading 
the  book.  If  Massenet's  genius  had  developed 
gradually,  as  Wagner's  did  from  Rienzi  to 
Parsifal,  I  should  have  hesitated  to  adopt  this 
unchronological  plan  for  any  reason.  But  his 
mind  rather  resembles  Mendelssohn's,  whose 
early  works  contain  as  valuable  gems  as  his  later 
ones.  Versatility  takes  the  place  of  development 
in  Massenet;  like  Saint-Saens  he  tried  various 
styles,  and  with  equal  success. 


II 

BIOGRAPHIC    SKETCH 


II 

BIOGRAPHIC  SKETCH 


JULES  MASSENET'S  grandfather,  whose 
home  was  at  Gravelotte  (Moselle),  be- 
came professor  of  history  at  the  University 
of  Strassburg.  His  son  was  a  superior  officer 
under  the  First  Empire.  "  When  the  Bourbons 
were  restored  he  sent  in  his  resignation.  As  he 
had  been  a  distinguished  pupil  of  the  Polytechnic 
School,  he  devoted  himself  to  manufactures,  and 
started  important  iron-works  near  St.  fitienne 
(Loire).  He  thus  became  an  iron-master,  and 
was  the  inventor  of  those  huge  hammers  which, 
crushing  steel  with  extraordinary  power  by  a 
single  blow,  change  bars  of  metal  into  sickles  and 
scythes.  So  it  was  that,  to  the  sound  of  heavy 
hammers  of  brass,  as  the  ancient  poet  says,  I  was 
born."  * 

*  Cited  from  the  autobiographic  sketch  contributed  by 
Jules  Massenet  to  The  Century  Magazine  for  November,  1892, 
which  every  admirer  of  his  ought  to  read.  All  the  French 
biographers,  oddly  enough,  refer  to  these  autobiographic 
notes  as  having  appeared  in  Scribner's  Magazine. 
21 


22        MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

The  date  of  this  birth,  an  important  one  in  the 
annals  of  French  opera,  was  May  12,  1842.  The 
full  name  given  to  the  infant  was  Jules-fimile- 
Fre'de'ric  Massenet.  He  soon  found  this  too 
cumbersome,  and  in  adult  life  used  only  Jules, 
usually  abbreviated  to  J.  The  name  of  his  natal 
village  was  Montaud. 

His  mother  was  the  second  wife  of  his  father, 
who  had  four  children  by  his  first  marriage,  four 
by  the  second.  As  the  children  of  the  first  wife 
had  no  artistic  inclinations,  while  those  of  the 
second,  without  exception,  developed  gifts  for 
the  arts,  particularly  music,  it  has  been  plausibly 
inferred  that  it  was  to  his  mother  that  Massenet 
owes  his  musical  genius. 

Her  maiden  name  was  Adelaide  Royer;  she 
was  educated  by  the  Duchess  d'Angouleme  and 
learned  to  play  the  piano  well.  From  her  Jules 
got  his  first  lessons  on  that  instrument.  They 
began  on  February  24,  1848,  in  Paris,  to  which 
the  family  had  just  moved,  the  father  having  been 
obliged  to  give  up  his  work  in  the  foundry  because 
of  ill-health.  This  was  so  serious  that  he  was  able 
to  contribute  little,  henceforth,  to  the  support  of 
the  family,  which  made  it  necessary  for  his  wife  to 
utilize  her  skill  as  a  pianist  by  giving  lessons  to 
others  besides  her  son. 


BIOGRAPHIC  SKETCH  23 

AT   THE   CONSERVATOIRE 

In  his  eleventh  year,  on  January  10,  1853, 
Jules  passed  a  satisfactory  examination  and  was 
accepted  as  a  pupil  at  the  Conservatoire.  At  this 
examination  he  played  the  finale  of  Beethoven's 
opus  19,  "astonishingly  well,"  so  Schneider  says. 
He  now  became  a  pupil  of  Adolphe  Laurent  at 
the  piano,  and  of  Savard  in  solf  ege. 

He  enjoyed  his  music  lessons  so  much  that  he 
was  greatly  disappointed  when  he  had  to  sever 
his  connection  with  the  Conservatoire,  in  1855, 
because  the  family  left  Paris  to  live  at  Chambe'ry, 
where  it  was  hoped  his  father's  health  would  be 
benefited  by  the  pure  air. 

Hugues  Imbert  (following  Hippolyte  Hostein) 
writes  that  in  May  or  June,  1855,  Jules  suddenly 
disappeared.  The  police  were  notified  and  suc- 
ceeded in  finding  him,  not  far  from  Chambery, 
in  a  miller's  cart,  bound  for  Paris  via  Lyons.  He 
was  brought  back,  but  once  more  ran  away,  and 
this  time  succeeded  in  reaching  Paris,  where  his 
parents,  seeing  that  he  was  so  determined,  allowed 
him  to  remain. 

Schneider,  the  latest  and  most  elaborate  bi- 
ographer, doubts  this  story,  which,  morever,  is 
not  corroborated  by  Massenet  himself,  who  says, 
in  his  autobiographic  sketch  concerning  the 


24      MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

Chambe'ry  episode:  "At  this  period  my  father's 
ill  health  forced  us  to  leave  Paris,  and  so  put  a 
stop  to  my  music  for  several  years.*  I  took 
advantage  of  this  period  to  finish  my  literary 
studies.  But  the  pain  of  separation  from  the 
Conservatoire  gave  me  courage  enough  to  beg 
my  parents  (whom  my  wish  distressed)  to  give 
me  permission  to  return,  and  I  did  not  again  leave 
Paris  until  the  day  when,  having  obtained  the 
first  grand  prize  for  musical  composition  (1863), 
I  left  for  Rome  with  a  scholarship  from  the  Aca- 
de"mie  de  France." 

When  he  left  his  parents  to  return  to  Paris,  he 
lived  with  an  aunt,  Mme.  Cavallie"-Massenet,  who 
was  pleased  by  his  devotion  to  his  studies  but 
aggrieved  by  some  of  his  pranks.  Schneider  re- 
lates, on  the  authority  of  a  neighbour,  that  in  those 
days  Jules' s  favourite  amusement  seemed  to  be  to 
walk  down  the  Rue  Rochechouart  with  his  boon 
companions,  uttering  yells  which  frightened  "tout 
le  quartier." 

In  1860  he  entered  the  harmony  class  of  Reber, 
and  in  the  following  year  he  began  to  study  com- 
position with  Ambroise  Thomas.  He  also  took 
special  harmony  lessons  of  Savard,  and  worked 

*  This  is  obviously  a  lapse  of  memory.  Imbert  says  that  the 
records  of  the  Conservatoire  show  that  Massenet  was  absent 
from  January  24,  1855,  only  till  October  of  the  same  year. 


BIOGRAPHIC   SKETCH  25 

as  diligently  as  he  had  done  a  few  years  previously 
when  Jules  Valles  remembered  him  as  a  youth 
with  long  blond  hair  and  deep  eyes.  "Though  a 
mere  boy,  he  impressed  us  (nous  intimidait),  and 
almost  inspired  respect  in  us  by  his  unremitting 
hard  work;  he  was  as  regular  as  a  pendulum, 
sitting  down  before  the  piano  to  practise  at  the 
same  hour  every  day." 

As  his  parents  were  too  poor  to  send  him  a 
monthly  allowance,  and  he  did  not  wish  to  im- 
pose too  much  on  his  aunt,  he  looked  about  for 
some  way  of  earning  an  extra  penny  while  he 
was  a  student  at  the  Conservatoire.  For  a  few 
months  he  played  the  triangle  at  the  Gymnase; 
then  he  got  the  post  of  kettle-drummer  in  the 
orchestra  of  the  Theatre  Lyrique.  Here  he  beat 
the  drums  three  evenings  every  week,  receiving 
fifty  cents  for  each  performance. 

At  this  time  began  his  lifelong  friendship  with 
Victorin  Joncieres,  who  left  the  Conservatoire 
because  his  teacher,  Leborne,  would  not  allow 
him  to  enthuse  over  Richard  Wagner,  and  who 
became  famous  in  later  years  as  a  critic  and  opera 
composer.  "Attached  to  his  piano  from  morning 
to  night,"  Joncieres  wrote  in  Le  Gaulois  (October 
23,  1898)  regarding  this  episode  in  Massenet's 
life,  "he  beat  the  kettle-drums  three  times  a 
week  at  the  Theatre  des  Italiens,  and  every 


26      MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

Friday  at  the  Caf£  Charles.  I  believe  he  kept 
his  place  as  drummer  in  the  salle  Ventadour 
till  the  day  when  he  took  the  Grand  Prix  de 
Rome." 

Joncieres  relates  in  the  same  article  how  he  got 
acquainted  with  Massenet.  Having  composed  a 
piece  which  he  dared  not  send  to  the  conductors 
of  public  concerts,  he  called  on  a  man  who  trained 
an  amateur  orchestra  in  the  Cafd  Charles.  This 
musician  told  him:  "We  play  only  the  masters 
here;  however,  if  a  work  that  has  merit  is  sub- 
mitted to  us,  we  try  it.  There  is  our  kettle- 
drummer" — pointing  at  a  young  man  who  was 
just  then  tuning  his  instrument — "he  has  some 
talent;  he  has  written  a  Marche  Religieuse  which 
we  shall  play  some  day  at  Saint-Pierre  de  Mont- 
martre,  on  the  occasion  of  a  solemn  festival." 
He  then  told  Joncieres  that  he  happened  just 
then  to  have  no  one  to  beat  the  big  drum  and 
invited  him  to  take  his  place  next  to  the  kettle- 
drummer. 

Massenet,  Joncieres  continues,  "was  at  that 
time  little  more  than  a  boy;  beardless,  with  a 
small  pug  nose,  a  high  forehead,  long  hair  tossed 
back,  a  pale  face  illumined  by  two  small  eyes  with 
an  expression  of  both  mischief  and  kindness.  He 
courteously  made  room  for  me,  and  I  seized 
the  drumstick  and  the  cymbals  for  the  perform- 


BIOGRAPHIC  SKETCH  27 

ance  of  the  Lestocq  overture.  .  .  .  Since  that 
time,  under  all  circumstances,  I  have  found 
him  a  good  comrade,  devoted,  obliging — &  man 
for  whom  I,  on  my  part,  never  neglected  to 
show  my  sincere  admiration  and  my  profound 
affection." 

Hippolyte  Hostein  relates  in  his  Historiettes 
et  Souvenirs  d'un  homme  de  Thgdtre  how  Massenet, 
having  earned  the  sum  of  two  hundred  francs  by 
beating  the  kettle-drums,  took  it  to  Savard  (of 
whom,  as  already  stated,  he  had  taken  extra 
harmony  lessons)  to  pay  for  them.  Thereupon 
the  professor  told  him  that  he  had  a  mass  by 
Adam,  for  military  band,  which  he  had  been  asked 
to  arrange  for  orchestra.  He  had  no  time — 
would  Massenet  do  it  ?  The  young  man  was  de- 
lighted at  the  opportunity  to  show  what  he  had 
learned.  As  soon  as  the  arrangement  was  com- 
pleted, he  brought  the  MS.  to  Savard,  who  sent 
for  him  a  few  days  later  and  praised  him  for  what 
he  had  done,  adding  that,  as  the  work  was  paid 
for  and  Massenet  had  done  it  all,  he,  of  course, 
would  receive  the  money.  With  that  he  gave 
him  back  the  two  hundred  francs  he  had  paid 
for  the  twenty  lessons,  and  insisted  on  his  taking 
them :  "  Point  de  refus,  point  de  fausse  delicatesse, 
je  ne  les  admettrais  pas,  mon  ami,  je  vous  en 
preViens." 


28      MASSENET  AND   HIS   OPERAS 

HAPPY  DAYS  IN  ROME 

The  great  ambition  of  every  student  at  the  Paris 
Conservatoire  is  to  win  the  Grand  Prix  de  Rome. 
To  get  it  means  that  the  French  Government  will 
pay  him  annually,  for  three  years,  2,310  francs  for 
general  expenses,  besides  1,200  francs  for  lodging 
and  food,  and  600  francs  more  to  pay  for  his 
journey  to  Rome,  making  altogether  some  $800. 
Once  a  year,  in  July,  there  is  an  examination; 
each  candidate,  in  Massenet's  days,  was  locked 
up  in  a  room,  not  much  better  than  a  prison  cell, 
in  which  he  had  to  write  a  cantata  or  other  work 
of  considerable  dimensions,  which,  in  the  case  of 
the  winner,  was  produced  at  the  Ope*ra,  where- 
upon he  was  solemnly  proclaimed  a  "Laure*at," 
and  crowned  with  laurel.  Nearly  all  the 
great  French  composers  were  thus  crowned, 
at  the  beginning  of  their  career,  as  winners 
of  the  Prix  de  Rome;  among  them  Harold, 
Ambroise  Thomas,  HaleVy,  Gounod,  Berlioz, 
Bizet,  Debussy. 

Massenet's  turn  came  in  1863.  He  had  been 
a  student  of  the  Conservatoire  eight  years;  he 
had  taken,  from  year  to  year,  prizes,  for  piano, 
counterpoint,  fugue;  and  now  came  the  prize  of 
prizes,  the  official  recognition  of  exceptional 
ability,  the  opportunity  to  travel,  to  see  the  world, 


BIOGRAPHIC   SKETCH  29 

to  study  in  the  great  capitals  of  Europe — all  at 
the  expense  of  the  state!  * 

In  the  autobiographic  sketch  written  for  The 
Century,  Massenet  exclaims  rapturously:  "Oh, 
those  two  lovely  years  in  Rome  at  the  dear  Villa 
Medici,  the  official  abiding  place  of  holders  of 
institute  scholarships — unmatched  years,  the  re- 
collection of  which  still  vibrates  in  my  memory, 
and  even  now  helps  me  to  stem  the  flood  of  dis- 
couraging influences. 

"It  was  at  Rome  that  I  began  to  live;  there  it 
was  that,  during  my  happy  walks  with  my  com- 
rades, painters  or  sculptors,  and  in  our  talks  under 
the  oaks  of  the  Villa  Borghese,  or  under  the  pines 
of  the  Villa  Pamphili,  I  felt  my  first  stirrings  of 
admiration  for  nature  and  for  art.  What  charm- 
ing hours  we  spent  in  wandering  through  the 
museums  of  Naples  and  Florence!  What  tender, 
thoughtful  emotions  we  felt  in  the  dusky  churches 
of  Siena  and  Assisi!  How  thoroughly  forgotten 
was  Paris  with  her  theatres  and  her  rushing 
crowds!  Now  I  had  ceased  to  be  merely  a 
'musician';  now  I  was  much  more  than  a  mu- 
sician. This  ardor,  this  healthful  fever  still 
sustains  me;  for  we  musicians,  like  poets,  must 
be  the  interpreters  of  true  emotion.  To  feel, 

*  The  name  of  the  cantata  with  which  he  won  the  prize 
was  David  Rizzio. 


30      MASSENET  AND   HIS   OPERAS 

to  make  others  feel — therein  lies  the  whole 
secret!" 

This  was  written  about  the  twenty-one-year-old 
Massenet  by  the  fifty-year-old  Massenet.  It 
must  have  been  a  period  of  exceptional  hap- 
piness, for,  continuing  his  rhapsody,  he  calls 
it  "a  life  full  of  work,  full  of  sweet  tranquillity  of 
mind,  a  life  such  as  I  never  have  lived  again." 

There  have  been  many  sarcastic  flings  at  the 
Paris  Conservatoire  because  of  its  custom  of  send- 
ing its  best  pupils  to  Rome,  a  city  by  no  means 
among  the  first  as  regards  musical  opportunities 
and  performances. 

Massenet  looked  at  the  matter  from  a  broader 
point  of  view.  "  Yes,"  he  wrote,  "  I  am  thorough- 
ly in  favor  of  this  exile, — as  it  is  called  by  the 
discontented.  I  believe  in  residing  there,  for 
such  a  residence  may  give  birth  to  poets  and 
artists,  and  may  awaken  sentiment  that  otherwise 
might  remain  unknown  to  those  in  whom  they  lie 
dormant.  .  .  . 

"I  believe  that  being  forced  to  live  far  away 
from  their  Parisian  habits  is  a  positive  advantage. 
The  long  hours  of  solitude  in  the  Roman  Cam- 
pagna,  and  those  spent  in  the  admirable  museums 
of  Florence  and  Venice,  amply  compensate  for  the 
absence  of  musical  meetings,  of  orchestral  concerts, 
of  theatrical  representations, — in  short,  of  music. 


BIOGRAPHIC   SKETCH  31 

How  few  of  these  young  men,  before  leaving 
France,  ever  knew  the  useful  and  penetrating 
charm  of  living  alone — in  close  communion  with 
nature  or  art,  and  the  day  in  which  art  and  nature 
speak  to  you  makes  you  an  artist,  an  adept;  and 
on  that  day,  with  what  you  have  already  learned, 
and  with  what  you  should  already  know,  you  can 
create  in  strong  and  healthy  fashion.  How  many 
garnered  impressions  and  emotions  will  live  again 
in  words  as  yet  unwritten!" 

Scholars  should  travel,  he  declares,  and  he 
proceeds  to  relate  how,  when  he  was  a  scholar  he 
left  Rome  during  many  months.  With  a  friend 
or  two  he  would  go  to  Venice  or  down  the  Adriatic; 
run  over,  perhaps,  to  Greece;  and  on  the  way 
back,  stop  at  Tunis,  Messina,  and  Naples. 
"Finally,  with  swelling  hearts,  we  would  see  the 
walls  of  Rome;  for  there,  in  the  Academy  of 
France,  was  our  home.  And  then,  how  delightful 
to  go  to  work  in  the  healthful  quiet,  in  which  we 
could  create  without  anything  to  preoccupy  us — 
no  worries,  no  sorrows." 

Among  the  talented  young  men  who  dwelt  in 
the  villa  Medici  with  Massenet  as  pensioners  of 
the  French  Government  were  Carolus-Duran, 
who  subsequently  became  a  famous  painter,  and 
Chaplain,  the  well-known  engraver.  The  latter, 
in  a  speech  made  in  the  Academic  des  Beaux- 


32       MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

Arts,  recalled  an  incident  that  occurred  one 
summer  day  on  the  road  from  Tivoli  to  Subiaco, 
when  a  band  of  students  halted  at  one  place  to 
enjoy  the  sight  of  the  wonderful  Roman  Cam- 
pagna:  "Suddenly,  at  the  foot  of  a  path  we  had 
just  climbed,  a  shepherd  began  to  play  a  sweet 
slow  air  on  his  pipe,  the  notes  of  which  died  away, 
one  by  one,  in  the  silence  of  the  evening.  While 
listening,  I  glanced  at  a  musician  who  made  one 
of  the  party,  curious  to  read  his  impressions  in  his 
face;  he  was  putting  down  the  shepherd's  air  in 
his  note-book.  Several  years  later,  a  new  work 
by  that  young  composer  was  played  in  Paris. 
The  air  of  the  Subiaco  shepherd  had  become  the 
superb  introduction  to  Marie  Magdekine" 

A  more  powerful  influence  than  folk-tunes  came 
into  his  life  at  this  time  and  helped  to  fertilize 
his  musical  fancy — the  feeling  of  love,  to  which 
music  owes  more  than  to  all  other  things  combined. 

MARRIAGE  AND  RETURN  TO  PARIS 

At  one  of  the  receptions  given  by  the  director 
of  the  Villa  Medici,  at  which  eminent  men  and 
women  of  all  countries  were  usually  assembled, 
Massenet  met  Liszt.  The  great  pianist  still  gave 
lessons  to  select  pupils,  but  he  longed  to  devote 
himself  to  religious  duties.  He  had  satisfied 


BIOGRAPHIC  SKETCH  33 

himself  of  Massenet's  exceptional  gifts  and  asked 
him  to  take  his  place  as  teacher  in  the  home  of 
Mme.  Sainte-Marie.  This  lady  had  a  charming 
young  daughter,  for  whom  the  lessons  were  in- 
tended, and  with  whom  the  young  composer 
promptly  fell  in  love. 

His  proposal  of  marriage  was  not  accepted  at 
once,  for  an  obvious  practical  reason:  What 
would  the  young  couple  live  on?  In  the  mean- 
time he  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  giving  lessons 
to  his  beloved,  and  of  being  a  regular  frequenter 
of  the  musical  soire'es  given  by  Mme.  Sainte- 
Marie.  At  these  he  sometimes  played  with  Liszt, 
sometimes  with  Sgambati,  one  of  the  few  Italian 
composers  of  note  who  chose  to  write  for  the  con- 
cert-hall rather  than  the  opera-houses. 

Like  other  lovers,  he  had  in  his  room  a  picture 
of  his  idol,  which  stimulated  him  to  do  his  best  in 
writing  the  compositions  he  had  to  send  to  Paris 
in  accordance  with  the  rules  and  regulations  for 
winners  of  the  Prix  de  Rome. 

There  was  another  rule  he  had  to  defer  to — a 
paragraph  stipulating  that,  after  a  year  in  Italy, 
the  prize-winner  must  visit  Germany  and  Austria- 
Hungary  and  remain  there  another  year,  where- 
upon he  was  at  liberty  to  return  either  to  Rome  or 
to  France  for  the  third  year  of  his  scholarship. 

Accordingly,  on  December  17,  1865,  he  started 


34       MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

on  his  journey  northward,  to  get  a  glimpse  of  the 
principal  cities  in  the  countries  indicated.  At 
Pesth,  so  Schneider  informs  us,  he  remained  sev- 
eral months  and  wrote  his  Scenes  Hongroises,  In 
Bohemia,  also,  he  was  impressed  by  the  musical 
local  color. 

On  the  eighth  of  October,  1866,  he  returned 
to  Rome  and  married  Mile.  Sainte-Marie.  His 
own  laconic  account  of  this  event  is  cited  by 
Imbert:  "En  1865  nous  etions  fiances,  et 
quand  je  quittais  Rome  P  amide  suivante  pour 
retourner  a  Paris,  je  n'e*tais  plus  garcon." 

Impatient  love  had  evidently  routed  prudence, 
for  Massenet's  financial  outlook  was  no  brighter 
in  1866  than  it  had  been  the  year  before.  In  fact, 
there  was  less  to  live  on,  for  the  contributions 
from  the  Conservatoire  ceased.  "He  gave  les- 
sons," Schneider  relates.  "In  summer,  when 
lessons  became  few  in  number  because  of  vacation 
time,  Massenet  undertook  to  give  piano  recitals 
at  the  watering-places.  And  when,  on  his  return, 
the  income  from  piano  lessons  became  too  un- 
certain, he  resumed  his  place  as  kettle-drummer 
at  the  Theatre  de  la  Porte-Saint-Martin." 

One  evening,  while  thus  employed,  he  had  an 
opportunity  to  distinguish  himself.  In  the  play 
that  was  given,  there  was  a  scene  in  which 
Napoleon  suddenly  enters,  while  the  populace 


BIOGRAPHIC   SKETCH  35 

cries  "  Vive  1'  Empereur ! "  But  the  actor  to  whom 
this  part  was  entrusted  failed  to  appear,  to  the 
consternation  of  the  stage  manager.  At  this 
moment  Massenet  saved  the  situation  by  making 
a  terrific  noise  with  his  drums,  which  impressed 
the  audience  more  than  the  appearance  of  the 
supernumerary  dressed  as  the  emperor  would 
have  done.  The  drummer  was  congratulated  by 
the  leader  of  the  orchestra  and  the  manager.  He 
had  given  proof  of  his  theatrical  instinct — an 
instinct  which  he  was  destined  ere  long  to  manifest 
as  a  composer  of  operas. 

It  was  not  as  a  writer  of  operas,  however,  that 
he  first  made  a  name  for  himself;  he  did  this 
with  his  oratorios,  and  these  were  preceded  by 
concert  pieces,  some  of  which  were  received 
favourably. 

CONCERT-HALL  SUCCESSES 

English  and  American  newspapers  print  many 
complaints  that  native  composers  are  neglected 
in  favour  of  foreigners.  In  Weber's  time  German 
composers  had  cause  for  a  similar  reproach,  and 
as  for  France,  everybody  knows  that  Berlioz  had 
to  go  to  Germany  for  recognition  of  his  genius. 
Saint-Saens,  Bizet,  Gounod,  had  their  early 
struggles  made  harder  by  this  attitude  toward 


36      MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

home-made  compositions,  and  Massenet  was  no 
exception.  Colonne  and  Lamoureux  were  not 
yet  in  the  field,  and  Pasdeloup  did  not,  at  that 
time,  display  the  same  interest  in  young  French 
composers  that  he  did  later.  His  audiences 
wanted  to  hear  the  classic  master  works,  par- 
ticularly those  of  Germany,  and  in  order  to 
prosper  he  had  to  give  them  what  they  demanded. 
It  is  instructive  to  read  the  comments  of  Servieres 
on  the  "Concert  National"  of  1873 — a  series  of 
six  concerts  given  by  the  publisher  Hartmann, 
at  which  French  pieces  exclusively  were  performed : 
"While  this  undertaking  was  beneficial  to  more 
than  one  musician  now  famous,  it  was,  from  a 
financial  point  of  view,  disastrous." 

Pasdeloup,  however,  did  lend  Massenet  a  help- 
ing hand  by  performing,  in  1867,  at  one  of  his 
Concerts  Populaires,  his  first  Suite  d'Orchestre* 

This  suite  gave  rise  to  a  newspaper  squabble 
which  is  worth  mentioning.  At  its  first  perform- 
ance the  suite  was  received  favourably;  but  when 
it  was  repeated,  the  following  year,  there  was  less 

*  In  the  preceding  year  Arban's  orchestra  had  played,  at 
the  Casino,  one  of  the  three  compositions  (Pompeia)  which 
Massenet  had  written  in  Rome;  the  other  two — which  were 
sent  to  Paris  by  way  of  proof  of  his  industry  and  progress — 
being  a  Grande  owverture  de  concert  and  a  Requiem  for  four 
and  eight  voices,  with  accompaniment  of  organ,  violoncello, 
and  double  basses. 


BIOGRAPHIC   SKETCH  37 

applause,  and  this  caused  the  witty  but  vulgar 
and  ignorant  Albert  Wolff  to  write  a  feuilleton  in 
the  Figaro  in  which  he  made  merry  over  this  ac- 
cident to  the  young  composer.  His  flippant  article 
aroused  the  indignation  of  Theodore  Dubois,* 
who  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Figaro,  deploring  Wolff's 
exultation  over  the  discouragement  meted  out  to 
"a  young  composer  who  may  have  talent  and 
a  future."  Addressing  Wolff  directly,  he  said: 
"You  take  no  account  of  the  deplorable  effect 
produced  by  an  article  of  that  kind,  and  you 
sacrifice  the  sacred  interests  of  art  to  the  pleasure 
of  being  funny." 

Massenet  himself  wrote  to  Wolff  a  personal 
letter  in  which  he  said:  "In  yesterday's  Figaro 
you  devote  to  the  performance  of  my  Symphony 
(which  is  an  orchestral  suite)  at  the  Cirque 
Napole*on,  an  article  which  is  extremely  amusing 
and  over  which  I  have  laughed  a  great  deal.  If 
you  discover  any  good  in  me,  Monsieur,  I,  for 
my  part,  find  you  exceedingly  witty,  and  there  is 
no  reader  of  the  Figaro  who  does  not  agree  with 
me  on  that  point. 

"  Only,  like  all  men  of  esprit,  you  have  this  in 

*  Dubois  was  five  years  older  than  Massenet,  and  won  the 
Roman  prize  in  1861.  He  became  the  director  of  the  Paris 
Conservatoire  in  1896  and  retained  that  post  till  1905.  As 
a  composer  he  also  won  distinction. 


38      MASSENET  AND   HIS   OPERAS 

common  with  '  les  imbeciles '  that  you  are  liable 
to  err,  and  it  is  particularly  for  the  purpose  of 
setting  you  right  on  a  point  that  escaped  you  that 
I  am  writing  this  letter. 

"My  Orchestral  Suite  (which  is  not  a  sym- 
phony) was  not  played  on  Sunday  for  the  first 
time,  but  for  the  second  time,  and  it  is  probably 
owing  to  its  favourable  reception  last  year  that  I 
owe  M.  Pasdeloup's  kindness  of  repeating  it  this 
season. 

"Two  years  ago,  Monsieur,  I  was  still  in  Rome, 
where  young  composers  live  in  admiration  of 
beautiful  treasures  of  the  past  and  in  ignorance 
of  the  number  of  petty  pleasures  which  await 
them  on  their  return  to  Paris." 

No  harm  came  to  Massenet  from  this  episode; 
on  the  contrary,  as  Imbert  remarks,  it  was  an 
advantage  to  the  young  composer  to  have  his 
name  thus  bandied  about  in  one  of  the  most 
widely  circulated  Parisian  journals. 

In  the  musical  world,  notoriety  is  almost  as 
valuable  as  fame.  The  public  forgets  whether 
what  it  read  was  praise  or  censure;  it  simply 
remembers  the  name,  and  that  the  owner  of  it 
was  considered  of  sufficient  importance  to  be 
written  about  at  length.  Massenet  evidently 
knew  this;  and  that  was  why  he  laughed  over 
Wolff's  malicious  feuilleton.  He  found  it  the 


BIOGRAPHIC  SKETCH  39 

easier  to  do  this  because  some  of  the  real  critics 
(Wolff  was  simply  a  dabbler  in  many  things) 
addressed  words  of  encouragement  to  the  com- 
poser of  that  suite. 

A  few  weeks  after  the  first  performance  of  this 
orchestral  work,  Massenet  had  made  his  debut 
as  an  opera  composer  with  a  trifle  called  La 
Grand?  Tante,  which  was  sung  altogether  sixteen 
times,  thus  making  an  encouraging  beginning  in 
this  field,  too. 

One  of  the  most  important  events  in  his  career 
occurred  in  1868.  He  had  sent  his  settings  of 
two  poems  by  Armand  Sylvestre  to  the  young 
publisher,  flartmann,  who  liked  them  so  much 
(they  were  the  Pobme  tfAvril  and  Pokme  du 
Souvenir)  that  henceforth  he  became  his  friend 
and  protector,  publishing  his  manuscripts,  offering 
suggestions  for  new  ones,  and  helping  to  provide 
promising  librettos. 

IN  WAR  TIME 

During  the  Franco-Prussian  War,  Massenet 
belonged  to  a  bataillon  de  marche.  "The  Prussian 
cannons,"  he  writes  in  his  autobiographic  sketch, 
"answering  those  of  Mont  Valdrien,  often  lugu- 
briously punctuated  the  fragments  that  I  tried  to 
write  during  the  short  moments  of  rest  that  guard 


40      MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

duty,  marching  around  Paris,  and  military  ex- 
ercises on  the  ramparts,  left  us.  There  the 
musician,  in  the  physical  weariness  of  this  novel 
life,  vainly  trying  to  find  a  few  moments  of  for- 
getfulness,  did  not  altogether  abdicate  his  rights. 
In  the  leaves  of  a  finished  score,  but  one  which 
will  never  be  brought  before  the  public,  Meduse, 
I  find  annotated  the  patriotic  cries  of  the  people, 
and  the  echoes  of  the  Marseillaise  sung  by  the 
regiments  as  they  passed  my  little  house  at  Fon- 
tainebleau  on  their  way  to  battle.  And  so  in 
other  fragments  I  can  read  the  bitter  thoughts 
that  moved  me  when,  having  returned  to  Paris 
before  it  was  invested,  I  was  inspired  by  the 
woeful  times  that  were  upon  us  during  the  long 
winter  of  that  terrible  year." 

In  October,  1871,  Pasdeloup  conducted  Mas- 
senet's second  orchestral  suite,  which  was 
favourably  received,  one  number  being  even  re- 
demanded;  yet  he  felt  that  writing  groups  of 
orchestral  pieces — not  to  speak  of  symphonies- 
was  not  his  metier.  Concerning  this  Deuxieme 
Suite  he  himself  wrote  in  a  letter  to  a  friend: 
"I  ought  to  be  very  well  satisfied,  but  I  am  not. 
For  this  is  not  yet  the  kind  of  music  I  should 
like  to  have  you  enjoy;  I  do  not  care  much  for 
this  suite  of  short  pieces.  However,  as  orchestre 
sptcial,  there  are  pleasing  effects  here  and  there 


BIOGRAPHIC   SKETCH  41 

which  stand  out  with  sincerity  and  clearness.  The 
instrumentation  of  these  pieces  is  not  of  the  colour 
scheme  of  my  usual  orchestra.  What  is  most 
prominent  in  this  suite  is  the  pictorial  element." 

It  consists  of  three  numbers — a  dance,  followed 
by  an  interlude,  and  a  wedding  procession  with 
benediction. 

When  he  wrote  that  he  ought  to  be  very  well 
satisfied  with  his  suite  he  had  in  mind  the  applause 
bestowed  on  it.  In  the  following  year,  further 
cause  for  satisfaction  was  provided  by  the  fact 
that  from  the  funds  of  the  Ministry  of  Public 
Instruction  five  hundred  francs  were  given  him 
toward  defraying  the  expenses  of  printing  his 
two  orchestral  suites.  In  the  same  year  was 
staged  his  second  opera,  Don  Cesar  de  Bazan, 
which  was  sung  eight  times  in  1872,  and  five  times 
in  1873,  without  adding  much  to  his  reputation. 

A  SENSATIONAL   SACRED   DRAMA 

Far  more  important  from  this  point  of  view, 
and  otherwise,  was  his  first  appearance  in  a  new 
field,  with  his  Marie-Magdeleine,  a  "sacred 
drama." 

The  plan  for  this  much-discussed  work  was 
conceived  by  the  publisher  Hartmann,  who  en- 
gaged Louis  Gallet  to  put  it  into  verse.  Massenet 


42       MASSENET  AND   HIS   OPERAS 

began  to  set  it  to  music  in  the  autumn  of  1871, 
and  in  the  first  month  of  the  following  year  the 
score  was  completed.  The  next  thing  to  do  was 
to  find  someone  willing  to  produce  it.  As  Pasde- 
loup  had  repeatedly  conducted  shorter  pieces  by 
Massenet,  it  was  hoped  that  he  might  be  willing 
to  undertake  this  more  ambitious  work.  So  the 
composer  and  publisher  called  on  him.  What 
happened  is  amusingly  related  in  the  Revue  du 
Siede  of  February,  1890,  by  Julien  Torchet, 
who  got  the  story  from  Massenet  himself. 

The  famous  conductor  begged  to  be  excused  a 
moment  because  he  had  to  hear  two  young  girls 
who  were  looking  for  an  engagement.  Then  he 
turned  to  Massenet,  who  had  explained  the  reason 
for  his  visit,  and  said:  "Sit  down  at  the  piano, 
and  let  us  lose  no  time. " 

The  young  composer  plunged  into  the  score. 
Hardly  had  he  begun  when  a  gust  of  wind  came 
down  the  chimney  and  filled  the  room  with  suffo- 
cating smoke.  Pasdeloup  opened  the  window, 
closed  it,  opened  it  again,  and  this  continued 
throughout  the  playing  of  the  score. 

All  this  time  Pasdeloup  did  not  give  the  slight- 
est indication  of  approval.  One  after  another  the 
composer  played  the  numbers  he  felt  proud  of — 
the  Hallelujah,  the  duo,  the  Pater  Noster,  the 
Resurrection.  The  last  page  finished,  he  gathered 


BIOGRAPHIC   SKETCH  43 

up  the  manuscript — not  a  word  from  Pasdeloup. 
At  last  the  conductor  got  up,  patted  Massenet  on 
the  shoulder,  and  said:  "Well,  my  boy,  you 
have  certainly  earned  your  dinner!"  And  that 
was  all  ! 

Hartmann  remained  to  ask  confidentially  what 
Pasdeloup  thought  of  the  score.  "  It  is  ridiculous 
— absurd,"  was  the  reply.  "Magdalen  sings:  'I 
hear  the  steps  of  Christ!'  The  deuce!  One  does 
not  hear  the  steps  of  Christ."  And  that  settled 
the  matter. 

A  wiser  artist  than  he  came  to  the  rescue. 
Pauline  Viardot-Garcia,  the  greatest  operatic 
contralto  of  her  time,  heard  Massenet  play  selec- 
tions from  his  work  and  was  so  much  impressed 
that  she  studied  the  score  and  became  eager  to 
appear  in  it,  although  she  had  practically  retired 
from  the  stage.  With  such  a  magnet,  it  was  easy 
to  arrange  matters,  and  on  April  u,  1873,  tne 
first  performance  was  given,  under  Edouard 
Colonne,  before  a  large  and  enthusiastic  audience. 

All  Paris  talked  about  Marie-Magdeleine  the 
next  day.  "A  new  thing  in  music  !"  some  ex- 
claimed rapturously.  "An  oratorio  without  dry 
fugues  or  contrapuntal  ensembles,  but  full  of  life 
and  love  and  melody!  What  joy  !  " 

No  less  a  judge  than  Camille  Saint-Saens 
wrote:  "Let  us  begin  by  recording,  with  joy 


44      MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

in  our  heart,  the  complete  success  of  the  most 
audacious  experiment  made  by  any  musician  in 
Paris  since  Berlioz's  I'Enfance  du  Christ.  M. 
Massenet,  for  that  matter,  is  not  a  Berlioz  and 
there  will  not  be  wanting  persons  who  will  con- 
gratulate him  on  that.  Berlioz  knew  not  this 
art  of  balancing,  so  much  in  vogue  at  present, 
which  makes  it  possible  to  have  friends  in  all 
camps;  to  displease  certain  individuals  was  one 
of  the  ambitions  of  Berlioz  and  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  he  succeeded  thoroughly.  Massenet's 
muse  is  less  haughty;  she  is  a  virtuous  personage 
who  does  nothing  against  her  conscience,  but 
she  loves  to  please  and  she  puts  flowers  in  her  hair. 

"Let  him  who  is  without  sin  cast  the  first 
stone ! 

"Some  have  called  it  an  innovation  to  give 
an  oratorio  a  dramatic  form,  but  that  is  abso- 
lutely incorrect.  The  oratorios  of  Handel,  typical 
of  the  genre,  do  not  in  any  way  differ  from  his 
operas.  .  .  . 

"What  is  new,  is  the  realistic  aspect  of  this 
work  by  MM.  Gallet  and  Massenet;  they  have 
secured  for  it  Oriental  colour  with  its  thousand 
coquetteries:  they  have  omitted  from  it  grandeur 
and  prestige  le*gendaire.  The  public,  always  in 
quest  of  dainties,  has  given  its  approval. 

"Massenet's  music  is  original  without  being 


BIOGRAPHIC  SKETCH  45 

odd,  and  entertaining  without  being  trivial;  that 
is  more  than  one  needs  for  success.  On  examin- 
ing it  closely  one  discovers,  not  without  surprise, 
that  it  proceeds  from  that  of  Gounod,  of  which  it 
nowhere  gives  the  impression.  It  is  Gounod  at 
bottom,  but  concentrated,  refined,  and  crystallised. 
Massenet  is  to  Gounod  what  Schumann  is  to 
Mendelssohn. 

"What  is  pleasing  in  Marie-Magdeleine  is  the 
felicity  with  which  the  composer  has  expressed 
sentiments  of  extreme  delicacy.  A  breath  would 
have  tarnished  the  love  of  Jesus  and  Mary 
Magdalen;  M.  Massenet  has  preserved  all  its 
ideal  purity." 

The  English  critic,  Arthur  Hervey,  wrote  of 
Marie-Magdeleine:  "It  was  the  Bible  doctored 
up  in  a  manner  suitable  to  the  taste  of  impres- 
sionable Parisian  ladies — utterly  inadequate  for 
the  theme,  at  the  same  time  very  charming  and 
effective."  Why  "utterly  inadequate  to  the 
theme"?  Must  a  purely  human  episode  like 
this  be  treated  with  fugual  austerity  and  dignity? 
Massenet's  aim  was,  in  his  own  words,  to  em- 
phasise the  human  side  of  the  story,  and  in  that 
he  succeeded. 

Mr.  Hervey  also  wrote:  "It  is  very  different 
from  what  we  understand  in  England  as  an 
oratorio."  But  Massenet  did  not  designate  it 


46      MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

as  an  oratorio,  nor  even  as  an  "  oratoriette,"  as 
one  of  the  French  critics  called  it.  His  name 
for  it  was  "  sacred  drama." 

In  1893  Camille  Bellaigue  issued  a  book, 
Psychologic  Musicale,  in  which  he  said  concern- 
ing this  work:  "Its  form  is  not  that  of  an 
oratorio,  but  of  a  sacred  drama,  and  if  the  French 
public  had,  to  the  same  degree  as  the  German, 
a  love  for  art  and  respect  for  things  divine,  the 
performance  of  Marie-Magdeleine  would  be  pos- 
sible, like  that  of  the  Passion  at  Oberammergau 
and  of  Parsifal  at  Bayreuth." 

Thirteen  years  later  Marie-Magdeleine  was 
actually  produced  as  a  music  drama,  with  scenery 
and  costumes,  at  the  Ope*ra-Comique  in  Paris. 

Among  those  most  enthusiastic  over  Marie- 
Magdeleine  when  first  produced  was  Ambroise 
Thomas,  whose  Mignon  (1866)  and  Hamlet 
(1868)  had  given  him  a  place  among  France's 
foremost  composers.  He  wrote  to  Massenet, 
under  date  of  April  12,  1873: 

"  Being  obliged  to  go  to  the  country  to-day,  I 
shall  be  unable,  to  my  regret,  to  see  you  before 
your  departure.  I  therefore  make  haste,  my 
dear  friend,  to  let  you  know  how  much  pleasure 
you  gave  me  last  night  and  how  happy  I  was 
over  your  splendid  success!  .  .  . 

"It  is  a  serious  work,  both  noble  and  moving; 


BIOGRAPHIC  SKETCH  47 

it  is  quite  of  our  time;  you  have  proved  that  one 
can  follow  the  path  of  progress  while  remaining 
clear,  temperate,  and  measured. 

"You  have  been  able  to  move  others  because 
you  were  moved  yourself. 

"You  have  happily  reproduced  the  adorable 
poetry  of  this  sublime  drama! 

"In  treating  a  mystical  subject  wherein  one  is 
in  danger  of  falling  into  excesses  of  tonal  gloom 
and  severity  of  style,  you  proved  yourself  a  colour- 
ist  preserving  charm  and  light. 

"  Be  content ;  your  work  will  be  reproduced  and 
endure. 

"Au  revoir,  I  embrace  you  with  all  my  heart, 
"AMBROISE  THOMAS." 

It  remained,  however,  for  a  foreigner,  Russia's 
greatest  composer,  to  pay  this  work  and  its 
creator  the  most  eloquent  tribute.  On  July  18, 
1880,  Tchaikovsky  wrote  to  his  brother  Modeste: 
"Yesterday  I  wrote  to  you  about  Bizet,  to-day  I 
am  enthusiastic  about  Massenet.  I  found  his 
oratorio,  Mary  Magdalene,  at  N.  F.'s.  After 
I  had  read  the  text,  which  treats  not  only  of  the 
relations  between  Christ,  the  Magdalene,  and 
Judas,  but  also  of  Golgotha  and  the  Resurrection, 
I  felt  a  certain  prejudice  against  the  work,  because 
it  seemed  too  audacious.  When  I  began  to  play 


48      MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

it,  however,  I  was  soon  convinced  that  it  was  no 
commonplace  composition.  The  duet  between 
Christ  and  the  Magdalene  is  a  masterpiece.  I  was 
so  touched  by  the  emotionalism  of  the  music,  in 
which  Massenet  has  reflected  the  eternal  compas- 
sion of  Christ-  that  I  shed  many  tears.  Wonder- 
ful tears!  All  praise  to  the  Frenchman  who  had 
the  art  of  calling  them  forth.  .  .  .  The  French 
are  really  first  in  contemporary  music.  All  day 
long  this  duet  has  been  running  in  my  head, 
and  under  its  influence  I  have  written  a  song, 
the  melody  of  which  is  very  reminiscent  of 
Massenet." 

Written  after  this  sacred  drama  but  performed 
a  few  months  before  it,  was  Les  Erynnies,  a  set 
of  musical  numbers  contributed  by  Massenet, 
by  request,  to  Leconte  de  Lisle' s  antique 
drama.  As  originally  given,  Massenet's  num- 
bers were  all  instrumental  and  scored  for 
strings,  three  trombones,  kettle-drums,  and  a 
gong.  Subsequently,  he  added  choruses  and 
an  effective  Danse  des  Saturnales,  rescoring 
the  whole  for  full  orchestra;  and  in  this  form 
the  work  was  revived  in  1876.  The  public 
did  not  seem  to  care  much  for  this  composi- 
tion as  a  whole,  but  amateurs  found  in  it,  in 
the  words  of  Noel  and  Stoullig,  "un  parfum 
d'antiquiteV'  and  one  of  its  numbers  is  known 


BIOGRAPHIC   SKETCH  49 

to  everybody  as  the  Elegie,  the  most  popular  of 
Massenet's  songs. 


MORE  SEMI-RELIGIOUS  WORKS 

We  have  seen  that  the  introduction  to  Marie- 
Magdeleine  was  the  shepherd's  air  Massenet  had 
heard  in  the  Roman  Campagna.  In  his  auto- 
biographic sketch  he  says,  with  reference  to  the 
first  part  of  this  work:  "It  was  in  truth  of 
Magdala  that  I  was  then  thinking;  my  imagina- 
tion journeyed  to  far  Judea,  but  what  really 
moved  me  was  the  remembrance  of  the  Roman 
Campagna,  and  this  remembrance  it  was  that  I 
obeyed.  I  followed  the  landscape  I  had  really 
known.  Afterward,  in  writing  the  Erynnies, 
the  love  that  I  felt  for  an  exquisite  Tanagra  terra- 
cotta dictated  to  me  the  dances  for  the  first  act 
of  Leconte  de  Lisle's  admirable  drama." 

Another  influence  which  made  itself  felt  at 
this  time  was  that  of  the  Life  of  Christ  of  Renan, 
at  whose  home  Massenet  was  a  frequent  visitor. 
Under  this  influence,  and  encouraged  by  the 
success  of  his  Marie-Magdeleine,  he  wrote  two 
more  semi-religious  works,  Eve  and  La  Vierge. 
Eve,  text  by  Gallet,  was  described  on  the  title- 
page  as  "a  mystery."  It  is  a  cantata  for  chorus 
and  three  soloists — Adam,  Eve,  and  the  Narrator. 

4 


50      MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

It  was  first  sung  on  March  18,  1875,  and  was 
received  with  enthusiasm,  the  prologue  (the  birth 
of  woman)  being  particularly  admired.  Some 
of  the  critics  again  missed  the  "superhuman 
grandeur,"  the  true  "religious  sentiment"  they 
had  looked  for;  others  were  offended  by  "la 
note  tendre,  voluptueuse " ;  but,  as  Camille 
Bellaigue  asked:  "Is  this  note,  discreetly  at- 
tenuated, out  of  place  in  the  story  of  the  first 
sin?"* 

No  one  was  more  delighted  with  Eve  than  the 
composer  of  Faust.  The  day  after  its  first  per- 
formance, Gounod  wrote  to  Massenet: 

"The  triumph  of  one  of  the  elect  must  be  a 
feast  for  the  church.  You  are  one  of  the  elect; 
Heaven  has  marked  you  as  one  of  its  children;  I 
feel  it  by  the  stir  your  beautiful  work  has  made 
in  my  heart!  Prepare  yourself  for  the  r61e  of  a 
martyr;  it  is  the  r61e  for  all  that  comes  from 
above  and  that  annoys  whatever  comes  from 
below.  But  do  not  sigh  and  become  downcast. 
Remember  that  when  God  said :  '  celui-ci  est  un 
vase  d' election,'  he  added:  'et  je  lui  montrerai 
combien  il  lui  faudra  souffrir  pour  mon  nom.' 

*  In  judging  these  choral  works  of  Massenet  it  is  well  to 
bear  in  mind,  as  pointed  out  by  Octave  Fouque,  that  to 
Massenet  and  his  librettist  the  Bible  was  simply  a  book  of 
poetic  legends,  like  the  Vedas,  the  Iliad,  the  Nibelungenlied. 


BIOGRAPHIC   SKETCH  51 

"Therefore,  my  dear  friend,  use  your  wings 
boldly  and  confide  yourself  without  fear  to  the 
lofty  regions  where  the  lead  of  the  earth  does  not 
reach  the  bird  of  heaven. 

"Yours  with  all  my  heart, 

"Cn.  GOUNOD." 

Five  years  later,  on  May  22,  1880,  La  Vierge 
was  produced,  a  "le*gende  sacree"  in  four  acts, 
dealing  with  the  Annunciation,  the  Marriage  at 
Cana,  Good  Friday,  and  the  Assumption.  Ac- 
cording to  Soleniere  and  Imbert  it  was  repeated 
a  week  later,  but  Schneider  asserts  that  it  was  not 
sung  more  than  once.  Vacorbeil  had  chosen 
this  work  as  the  first  in  a  series  of  historic  concerts 
to  be  given  at  the  Ope'ra,  but  the  sale  for  the 
repetition  of  it,  a  week  later,  was  so  small  that  no 
performance  took  place,  and  the  historic  concerts 
came  to  an  end  at  once.  The  fickle  public, 
which  had  so  warmly  applauded  Marie-Mag- 
deleine  and  Eve,  seemed  to  want  nothing  more  of 
the  kind;  or,  perhaps,  the  trouble  was  that  the 
wrong  place  had  been  chosen  for  presenting  a 
serious  work  of  a  religious  character.  Even  at  the 
premiere,  the  audience  consisted  largely  of  in- 
vited music-lovers.  Massenet  himself  conducted, 
and  of  his  trials  and  sufferings  on  this  occasion 
he  has  made  a  frank  confession: 


52       MASSENET  AND   HIS   OPERAS 

"An  icy  silence  in  the  hall!  The  work  which  I 
had  composed  with  so  much  ardour  and  devotion 
was  tumbling  down.  And  I  was  at  the  accursed 
conductor's  desk,  unable  to  leave  it!  I  trembled 
with  vexation,  and  partly  with  shame.  What  a 
cruel  humiliation!  The  orchestral  players,  usu- 
ally so  reserved,  looked  at  me  as  if  they  would 
like  to  say:  'Poor  boy!'  I  read  pity  for  myself 
in  the  eyes  of  my  soloists.  An  attempt  was  made 
to  get  a  repetition  of  one  of  the  numbers,  but  I 
understood  that  the  public  allowed  my  friends  to 
have  their  way  simply  out  of  compassion  for  me. 
Behind  me,  I  heard  someone  in  the  parquet  say, 
'it's  deadly'  (c'est  crevant).  I  felt  that  the 
public  was  tired;  it  began  to  leave,  and  I  could 
scarcely  remain  at  my  stand.  When  it  was  all 
over,  I  left  in  dismay,  insane  with  disappointment 
and  rage." 

PROFESSOR   AND  MEMBER  OF  INSTITUTE 

This  lamentable  fiasco  was  the  more  keenly 
felt  because  it  came  three  years  after  the  brilliant 
success  of  his  first  important  opera,  Le  Roi  de 
Lahore,  which  also  had  become  popular  hi  Milan, 
Turin,  Rome  (where  he  helped  to  prepare  the 
performance),  Venice,  Munich,  Dresden,  London, 
and  other  cities. 


BIOGRAPHIC   SKETCH  53 

It  was  the  more  keenly  felt,  also,  because  two 
great  distinctions  had  been  conferred  upon  him 
in  the  meantime.  On  October  7,  1878,  he  had 
been  appointed  professor  of  counterpoint,  fugue, 
and  composition  at  the  Conservatoire,  of  which 
Ambroise  Thomas  was  then  the  director;  and 
in  the  following  month  he  had  been  chosen  a 
member  of  the  Academic  des  Beaux-Arts,  his 
rivals  being  Saint-Saens,  Boulanger,  Membrde, 
and  Duprato.  The  first  ballot  gave  Saint-Saens 
13  votes  and  Massenet  12,  Boulanger  having  6, 
Membr£e  2,  and  Duprato  i.  In  the  second 
ballot  Membr^e  and  Duprato  dropped  out, 
Boulanger  had  3,  Saint-Saens  13,  and  Massenet 
18. 

As  soon  as  the  result  was  announced,  Massenet 
(who  was  seven  years  younger  than  Saint-Saens) 
telegraphed  to  him:  "My  dear  confrere,  the 
Institute  has  committed  a  great  injustice."  * 

When  Bizet  died  (1875),  broken-hearted,  be- 
cause his  Carmen  seemed  a  failure,  Colonne  gave 

*  As  a  matter  of  course,  Massenet  had  been  awarded  at  an 
early  date  (1876)  the  "Legion  d'honneur"  which,  as  Grieg 
once  wrote  wittily,  is  no  "honour"  because  "legions"  (at 
present  over  half  a  million)  share  it.  Subsequently,  however, 
he  was  promoted  to  the  higher  ranks  of  this  order,  which 
mean  something:  in  1888  he  became  "officier  de  la  Legion 
d'honneur";  in  1895,  "commandeur";  and  in  1899,  "grand- 
officier." 


54      MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

a  memorial  concert  for  which  Massenet  wrote  an 
orchestral  Lamento.  One  of  his  functions  at  the 
Conservatoire  was  to  take  Bizet's  place  as  ex- 
aminer in  the  organ  and  composition  classes. 

There  was  great  joy  among  the  students  when 
Massenet  became  professor  of  composition.  His 
predecessor,  Francois  Bazin  (who  succeeded 
Ambroise  Thomas,  in  this,  the  most  important, 
professorship,  when  Thomas  became  director 
of  the  institute)  was  a  dry  pedant  and  reactionary, 
while  Massenet,  as  his  sacred  dramas  and  his 
operas  had  shown,  was  a  man  of  the  time,  from 
whom  students  could  learn  how  to  "get  into  the 
swim." 

He  was  a  hard  worker  himself,  and  he  made 
his  pupils  work  hard.  The  best  of  them — those 
who  aimed  at  the  Prix  de  Rome — the  object  of 
every  ambitious  student — had  to  come  to  his 
house  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  go 
through  their  paces  assiduously.  He  knew  how 
to  make  his  lessons  interesting  as  well  as  exacting. 
In  the  words  of  Schneider:  "il  se  fit  1'ami  de  ses 
eleves";  he  made  them  look  on  him  as  a  friend 
and  gave  his  lessons  the  form  of  an  entertaining 
conversation.  He  did  not  confine  his  hints  to 
matters  of  technic,  but  laid  bare  the  inner  spirit 
of  the  pieces  he  analysed.  "  He  did  not  teach 
them  how  to  write  symphonies,  but  confined 


BIOGRAPHIC  SKETCH  55 

himself  to  point  out  the  merits  of  those  written  by 
Beethoven,  Haydn,  Mozart,  or  Schumann.  But 
he  devoted  himself  to  showing  these  young  folks 
how  to  compose  a  cantata,  how  to  give  life  to  a 
lyric  scene.  They  were  practical  lessons,  having 
in  view  the  securing  of  the  Prix  de  Rome,  the 
apogee  of  a  Conservatory  course." 

His  success  in  turning  out  pupils  with  the 
ability  to  win  this  prize  soon  became  the  talk  of 
the  town.  Conservatives  who  disliked  him  be- 
cause of  his  popularity,  his  liberal  policy  and 
independence,  sometimes  spoke  of  his  influence 
disparagingly;  but  while  it  was  undoubtedly 
true  that  some  of  his  pupils  wrote  more  a  la 
Afassenet  than  was  good  for  their  own  reputation, 
the  list  of  his  pupils  during  the  eighteen  years 
that  he  taught  at  the  Conservatoire  includes  the 
names  of  several  men  who  had  the  ability  to  im- 
press a  style  of  their  own  on  their  works — Alfred 
Bruneau,  Gabriel  Pierne*,  Xavier  Leroux,  Gustave 
Charpentier,  Paul  Vidal, — pupils  of  whom  any 
professor  might  be  proud. 

In  1896  Massenet  resigned  his  professorship. 
During  the  eighteen  years  of  his  activity  as  pro- 
fessor he  had  found  time  to  compose  nine  operas : 
Hirodiade  (1881),  Manon  (1884),  Le  Cid  (1885), 
Esclarmonde  (1889),  Le  Mage  (1891),  Werther 
(1892),  Thais  (1894),  Le  Portrait  de  Manon 


56      MASSENET  AND   HIS   OPERAS 

(1894),  La  Navarraise  (1894).  But  he  was  now 
fifty-four  years  old  and  felt  that  he  ought  to  save 
all  his  energies  for  his  creative  work. 

His  resignation  was  greatly  regretted.  It 
occurred  in  the  same  year  that  Ambroise  Thomas 
died.  The  post  of  director,  thus  made  vacant, 
was  offered  to  Massenet,  but  even  this  supreme 
honour  could  not  persuade  him  to  change  his 
mind. 

The  story  of  his  life  since  1896  is  simply  the 
story  of  his  operas,  which  will  be  related  in  other 
chapters,  together  with  diverse  personal  expe- 
riences connected  with  them,  amdng  which  those 
to  be  told  in  the  chapter  on  Werther  are  of  par- 
ticular interest. 


Ill 

PERSONAL    TRAITS    AND 
OPINIONS 


Ill 

PERSONAL  TRAITS  AND  OPINIONS 

A  PEN  PICTURE  BY  SERVIERES 

IN  THE  year  in  which  Massenet  resigned 
his  professorship  at  the  Conservatoire  and 
refused  the  directorship,  Georges  Servieres 
wrote  the  following  vivid  sketch  of  his  personality 
and  some  of  his  traits: 

"Massenet  is  now  fifty-four  years  old,  but  he 
looks  considerably  younger.  He  wears  his  hair 
long,  somewhat  wavy  at  the  back,  and  a  blond 
moustache.  His  eyes  are  very  quick  in  their 
movements;  the  expression  is  very  gentle.  His 
profile  is  finely  cut.  His  shoulders  are  slightly 
stooping  and  he  seems  short,  although  he  is  of 
medium  height.  His  movements  are  full  of  an 
ever-present,  nervous  vivacity.  Just  to  see  him 
one  feels  how  natural  is  that  feverish  activity 
with  which  he  spends  himself,  either  in  work,  or 
in  lessons,  or  in  trips  to  foreign  countries.  Con- 
stantly he  is  being  called  away  to  some  city  or 
other  to  conduct  the  performance  of  one  of  his 
59 


60      MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

works,  or  to  superintend  the  final  rehearsals  of 
one  of  his  last  operas.  Once  the  score  is  learned, 
the  opera  performed,  he  escapes  ovations  and 
returns  to  Paris. 

"He  could  not  count  his  triumphs  in  Vienna, 
in  Pesth,  in  Italy,  in  Belgium.  Quantities  of 
wreaths,  adorned  with  inscriptions  in  many 
tongues,  faded  laurels  to  which  hang  old  ribbons, 
preserved  their  memory,  hung  on  the  walls  of  a 
sort  of  sanctum  at  the  publisher  Hartmann's, 
who  had  constituted  himself  the  faithful  depository 
of  these  treasures.  It  was  here,  in  Daunon  street, 
that  Massenet  could  be  found  daily  from  five  to 
seven;  here  that  he  received  musicians  desirous 
of  knowing  him,  singers  looking  for  an  engage- 
ment, newspaper  men  eager  for  first  news  of  his 
latest  work.  While  M.  Hartmann  attended  to 
practical  matters,  the  master,  with  untiring  oblig- 
ingness, had  an  answer  for  everyone  of  these  more 
or  less  importunate  visitors,  a  few  words  which 
left  each  one  satisfied. 

"The  amenity  of  Massenet's  character,  his 
affability,  which  was  natural,  no  doubt,  but  must 
have  been  kept  through  force  of  will,  for  it 
triumphs  over  an  ultra-nervous  temperament, 
has  given  him  hosts  of  friends.*  He  very 

*  Massenet  was  a  close  friend  of  Georges  Bizet.  After  the 
premature  death  of  the  composer  of  Carmen  he  wrote  a 


PERSONAL  TRAITS  AND   OPINIONS    61 

rarely  disparages  his  confreres.  He  exaggerates 
this  kindness  even  to  the  weakness  of  extolling 
works  he  knows  are  not  worth  much.  One  wishes 
sometimes  to  see  awake  in  him  the  instinctive 
horror  of  the  artist  toward  platitudes — even  those 
signed  by  great  names — toward  successes  pur- 
chased by  unfortunate  concessions  to  bad  taste. 
His  kindness  remains  unalterable  and  is  equalled 
only  by  his  desire  to  win  the  good  graces  of  his 
interlocutors." 

SENSITIVENESS  TO   CRITICISM 

His  leniency  toward  the  faults  of  others  is  only 
equalled  by  his  personal  sensitiveness.  "His 
btte  noir  is  criticism,"  writes  Schneider — "why 
conceal  it?  One  could  not  be  more  sensitive 
to  criticism  than  he  is — to  the  darts  and  arrows 
of  the  press,  of  friends  and  of  others,  all  of  which 
he  dreads  equally.  When  the  day  draws  near  for 
the  public  dress  rehearsal  of  one  of  his  operas  he 
flees  Paris,  irritable  and  in  bad  humour.  Some 

Lamento  for  orchestra,  which  was  performed  on  October  31, 
1875,  at  the  concert  du  Chatelet.  M.  Gallet  had  written  for 
the  occasion  a  poem  which  was  recited  by  Mme.  Galli-Marie 
to  the  accompaniment  of  the  adagietto  from  L'ArUsienne.  At 
the  end  M.  Colonne  performed  the  overture  Patrie  which 
Bizet  had  dedicated  the  year  before  to  his  friend  Massenet. 

H.  T.  F. 


62       MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

say  that  this  is  a  sort  of  vanity,  but  those 
who  know  Massenet  well  do  not  think  so. 
His  great  sensitiveness  is  simply  a  corollary 
of  his  kindness.  His  amiability  is  so  general, 
that  it  seems  hard  for  him  not  to  get  the  benefit 
of  the  same  disposition  on  the  part  of  others. 
At  bottom  all  this  conceals,  perhaps,  an  incom- 
mensurable timidity." 

An  operatic  manager  once  said  to  him: 
"My  dear  Master,  give  me  the  secret  of  your 
abnormal  creative  ability.  Every  day  you  listen 
to  a  crowd  of  singers,  you  attend  every  rehear- 
sal, and,  besides,  you  are  professor  at  the 
Conservatoire.  When  do  you  find  time  to 
work?"  "When  you  are  asleep,"  Massenet 
replied  quickly. 

Every  morning  from  five  to  ten  sees  him  at  his 
table,  busy  with  his  manuscripts  or  his  corre- 
spondence. No  letter  remains  unanswered,  and 
for  every  visitor  he  has  a  few  minutes  to  spare, 
provided  he  is  punctual.  Casual  callers  he  re- 
ceives in  his  studio  at  his  publisher's  office.  His 
home,  at  figreville  (Seine-et-Marne),  is  open  to 
his  friends  only.  Here  he  cultivates  the  flowers 
he  loves,  and  gives  to  his  grapevines  his  per- 
sonal attention.  Here,  in  rural  solitude,  and 
quiet,  he  also  composes  his  operas.  His 
favourite  attire  when  at  work  is  a  red  robe 


PERSONAL  TRAITS  AND   OPINIONS   63 

de  chambre.  He  calls  the  wearing  of  this, 
"homarder,"  Schneider  tells  us — "homard" 
being  French  for  lobster. 

Concerning  his  method  of  composing,  Imbert 
gives  these  details:  "After  having  mentally 
arranged  the  main  outlines,  he  begins  by  making 
a  lead-pencil  sketch,  which  he  copies  hi  ink 
almost  without  a  change,  and  from  this  sketch, 
which  somewhat  resembles  an  arrangement  for 
piano,  he  makes  the  orchestral  score.  His 
dexterity  equals  that  of  the  composer  of  the  Danse 
Macabre,  who  also,  like  Massenet,  composes 
without  the  aid  of  the  piano.  There  is  never  a 
rough  orchestral  draft,  so  to  speak,  of  the  score; 
not  that  he  never  goes  over  again  what  he  has 
written;  but  on  the  whole  there  are  few  correc- 
tions. The  minutest  shades,  the  movements  of 
the  bow,  even,  are  marked  with  scrupulous  care. 
But  the  composer  is  so  sure  of  what  he  does  that 
he  sends  the  orchestral  score  to  the  printer  before 
it  has  been  played,  and  it  is  this  score  that  the 
conductor  uses." 

Like  all  famous  men,  Massenet  has  his  cen- 
sors. A  prominent  singer  whom  I  asked  for 
his  impressions,  called  him  an  "arriviste" — "a 
man  who  has  always  worked  for  success  success- 
fully; a  man  with  a  great  talent,  but  not  a  com- 
pelling genius;  a  man  who  thoroughly  knows  his 


64       MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

business,  but  who  has  no  great  ideals.  He  was 
brought  up  by  Jesuits  a  '  se'minariste,'  and  has 
remained  true  to  his  bringing  up,  having  thorough- 
ly imbibed  their  principles.  He  would  call  a 
singer,  man  or  woman,  the  most  insulting  names 
to  a  third  person,  then,  if  a  phrase  pleased  him, 
change  his  tone  completely  to  the  artist — or  even 
change  with  no  specially  good  reason." 

THE   FAIR   SEX 

That  he  has  been  a  great  admirer  of  women  it 
is  needless  to  say  to  anyone  familiar  with  his 
operas,  for  woman  and  love  are  the  themes  of  most 
of  them.  And  the  women  reciprocated.  As 
Schneider  puts  it,  "a  woman  is  like  a  child;  she 
goes  instinctively  to  the  person  who  loves  her. 
This  explains  why  his  incessant  glorification  of 
woman  made  all  women  like  him."  "Ne  nous 
y  trompons  pas,"  continues  this  Parisian;  "elles 
respirent  avec  delices  Patmosphere  de  vertigineux 
amour  qu'il  a  crdee  pour  elles;  elles  se  baignent 
avec  ferveur  dans  ces  ondes  de  volupte  nerveuse 
auxquelles  il  les  a  initiees." 

Massenet  wrote  some  of  his  operas  for  prima 
donnas  whom  he  admired  particularly.  For 
Emma  Calve  he  composed  La  Navarraise  and 
Sapho;  for  the  Californian,  Sibyl  Sanderson, 


PERSONAL  TRAITS  AND  OPINIONS   65 

Esclarmonde  and  Thais.  When  Esclarmonde 
was  about  to  be  given,  he  wrote  to  Miss  Sander- 
son: 

"You  show  that  I  was  right,  since  it  is  for  you 
that  I  have  written  Esclarmonde;  I  had  faith  and 
you  proved  at  the  public  rehearsal  to-day,  Satur- 
day, May  n,  1889,  that  I  have  confided  my  r61e, 
unique  in  its  difficulties  of  all  sorts,  to  a  unique 
artist.  You  are  making  your  d£but,  but  I 
predict  for  you  a  future  also  unique.  Later  on, 
when  speaking  of  theatrical  glory,  people  will 
name  Sanderson. 

"  Yours  with  much  appreciation, 

"  MASSENET." 

It  would  be  unfair  to  give  the  impression  that 
women  alone  have  admired  Massenet.  The  dis- 
tinctions conferred  on  him  by  men  evince  the 
contrary.  Doubtless  the  distinguishing  trait  of 
this  music  is  a  feminine  tenderness,  but  this 
tenderness  appeals  to  many  men  as  much  as  it 
does  to  any  women. 

A  few  weeks  before  the  production  of  Werther 
in  Paris,  Massenet  became  a  member  of  the  Union 
Ve'locip£dique  de  France.  A  grand  banquet 
was  given  in  his  honour,  one  of  the  features  of 
which  was  an  exhibition  of  proficiency  on  the 
part  of  the  new  member,  who  rode  round  the 
5 


66      MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

table  on  his  bicycle.  A  spiteful  critic  wrote 
subsequently  that  he  did  this  to  advertise  himself. 
But  in  1893  Massenet  was  already  a  very  famous 
man,  who  did  not  need  to  exhibit  himself  as  a 
"virtuose  de  la  reclame." 

At  present  Massenet  lives  almost  like  a  hermit. 
In  a  letter  to  the  author  (dated  August  6,  1910), 
a  few  pages  of  which  are  reproduced  herewith 
in  facsimile,  he  says:  "  Je  vis  en  dehors  de  tout: 
dans  le  travail  et  la  solitude."  He  pays  an 
emphatic  tribute  to  Schneider,  as  the  most  reliable 
of  his  biographers,  refers  to  the  first  performances 
of  his  last  two  operas,  explains  why  he  cannot  send 
statistics  regarding  the  number  of  performances 
given  of  all  his  operas,  and  expresses  his  belief 
that  I  will  be  interested  in  his  next  operatic 
project  although  he  cannot  yet  reveal  what  it  is. 
With  this  letter  he  sent  an  autograph  copy  of  the 
melody  of  his  iLUgie  for  this  volume,  which  is 
reproduced  on  another  page. 

PATRIOTISM   AND   FRIENDSHIPS 

Massenet  is  more  emotional  than  most  men, 
but  not  more  so  than  most  of  the  great  composers 
are.  It  has  been  frequently  intimated  by  un- 
sympathetic critics  that  he  is  capable  of  being 
moved  by  only  two  sentiments — the  love  for 


t. 


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LETTER 


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Jo  Facf  p. 


PERSONAL  TRAITS  AND   OPINIONS   67 

woman  and  religious  mysticism.  Those  who 
made  this  insinuation  could  not  have  heard 
his  Navarraise;  nor  could  they  have  read, 
in  his  autobiographic  sketch  in  The  Century 
Magazine,  his  truly  masculine  and  impassioned 
outburst  of  patriotic  fervour  and  grief.  To  cite 
a  few  lines  of  this:  "Yes,  truly,  during  those 
dark  days  of  the  siege  of  Paris,  it  was  indeed 
the  image  of  my  dying  country  that  lay  bleed- 
ing in  me,  feeble  instrument  that  I  was,  when, 
shivering  with  cold,  my  eyes  blinded  with  tears, 
I  composed  the  bars  of  the  Poeme  du  Souvenir 
for  the  inspired  stanzas  written  by  my  friend, 
the  great  poet  Armand  Silvestre,  A  rise,  beloved, 
now  entombed!  " 

He  has  counted  among  his  friends  most  of  the 
Parisian  celebrities  in  the  world  of  music  and 
literature,  to  some  of  whom  he  was  and  is  warmly 
attached.  To  several  of  these  friendships  refer- 
ence has  been  made  in  the  preceding  pages. 
When  Ambroise  Thomas  died,  Massenet  de- 
livered the  address  at  the  obsequies.  In  this  ad- 
dress he  said: 

"It  is  to  me  that  friends  and  colleagues 
of  the  Socie'te'  des  Auteurs  have  entrusted  the 
mournful  task  of  glorifying  this  great  and 
noble  artist,  when  I  feel  more  like  weeping. 
For  this  grief  is  deep,  particularly  in  the  case  of 


68      MASSENET  AND   HIS   OPERAS 

those  of  us  who  were  his  pupils,  to  some  extent 
the  children  of  his  brain,  on  whom  he  lavished 
his  instruction  and  advice,  giving  us  without 
stint  the  best  that  was  in  him  in  this  apprentice- 
ship of  the  language  of  sounds  which  he  spoke  so 
well.  .  .  . 

"In  the  arts,  as  in  nature,  there  are  impetuous 
torrents,  impatient  of  all  dikes,  bringing  some- 
times ruin  and  desolation  on  the  land  near  their 
banks.  There  are  also  rivers  of  azure  tint,  which 
flow  on  calmly  and  majestically,  enriching  the 
plains  they  pass  -through.  Ambroise  Thomas 
had  this  serenity,  and  ibis  force  assagie"  * 

There  is  in  these  extracts  evidence  of  sentiment 
and  imagination  which  makes  one  regret  that 
Massenet,  unlike  Berlioz  and  Saint-Saens,  did  not 
write  articles  and  books  as  well  as  operas  and 
songs. 

WAGNER   AND   OTHER   MASTERS 

The  address  on  Mdhul,  delivered  in  1892, 
bears  witness  to  Massenet's  respect  for  the  old 
French  masters.  Two  years  later  Le  Journal 
asked  the  leading  composers  for  their  opinion  on 

*  The  whole  of  this  discourse  is  printed  in  Soleniere's  book 
on  Massenet.  The  much  longer  discourse  delivered  by  him 
on  the  occasion  of  the  unveiling  of  a  monument  to  Me'hul 
may  be  found  in  Imbert's  Profiles  d'Artistes,  pp.  229-233. 


PERSONAL  TRAITS  AND  OPINIONS   69 

the   ''mouvement  musical" — in  other  words,  it 
asked  them  to  tell  the  world  what  they  thought 
of  one  another.     Massenet  extricated  himself  with 
the  following  diplomatic  letter: 
"Monsieur  le  Directeur, 

"Returning  from  a  railway  trip  I  find  your 
pleasant  letter,  to  which  I  should  like  very  much 
to  be  able  to  reply  in  the  way  you  wish  me  to. 

"If  you  asked  me  for  a  melody,  I  should  do 
my  best  to  satisfy  you;  but  write  an  article  is 
something  I  cannot  do. 

"And  besides,  what  a  serious  thing  it  is  for  a 
musician  who  is  still  in  the  field  to  pass  judgment 
on  the  musical  epoch  in  which  he  is  a  combatant ! 

"It  would  surely  be  most  ungracious  on  my 
part  not  to  pronounce  all  my  colleagues  admirable 
and  not  to  cover  them  with  flowers. 

"That  is  what  I  do,  while  sending  you  the 
assurance  of  my  most  sympathetic  sentiments. 

"  MASSENET." 

Of  all  his  „  contemporaries  the  one  whom 
Massenet  admired  most  was  Richard  Wagner. 
In  Le  Figaro  of  January  19,  1884,  there  appeared 
an  interview  in  which  he  spoke  of  Wagner's  in- 
fluence: "This  influence  on  me  was  at  first 
perhaps  a  little  more  than  was  reasonable,  and 
my  liking  for  the  composer  of  the  tetralogy  verged  ' 


70      MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

at  that  time  on  fanaticism.*  To-day,  matured 
by  study  and  experience,  I  admire  him  still,  but 
above  all  as  littirature.  My  professor's  chair  at 
the  Conservatoire  has  protected  me  from  these 
excessive  enthusiasms.  I  have  charge  of  young 
minds  that  are  more  ardent,  more  progressive, 
more  Wagnerian  still,  as  you  say,  than  I  was 
myself,  for  the  world  has  moved,  thank  heaven; 
and  it  has  seemed  to  me  necessary  to  hold  them 
in  check,  until  after  a  gradual  cultivation  of 
taste,  step  by  step,  in  accordance  with  the  dis- 
tinctive characteristics  of  the  French  genius,  they 
can  risk  an  excursion  into  these  new  worlds, 
which  are  full  of  real  charms,  but  also  of  mislead- 
ing mirages." 

Imbert  relates  that  one  day,  in  talking  with 
several  persons  who  abused  Wagner's  music, 
Massenet  turned  to  another  individual  and  said 
calmly:  "Since  you  are  just  back  from  Bay- 
reuth  you  will  understand  this:  so  overwhelm- 
ing is  the  power  of  Wagner  that  after  hearing 
one  of  his  works  one  vows  never  to  compose 

*  When  Esclarmonde  was  produced,  the  critical  wits  referred 
to  him  as  "Mile.  Wagner,"  and  the  newspapers  related  with 
much  zest  an  anecdote  regarding  the  composer  Reyer,  who, 
when  he  heard  that  Massenet  had  exclaimed:  "Wagner,  a 
prodigious  genius!  I  shall  consider  myself  fortunate  to  reach 
his  ankles!"  retorted  promptly  and  seriously:  "But  he  is 
reaching  them  I" 


PERSONAL  TRAITS  AND  OPINIONS     71 

another  thing.  Afterward,"  he  added  with  a 
sigh,  "one  forgets  a  little  and  begins  again." 

The  opinions  of  the  author  of  this  volume  on 
Massenet's  genius  are  set  forth  in  the  following 
chapters,  devoted  to  his  operas.  They  agree 
substantially  with  the  estimate  of  R.  A.  Streat- 
feild  as  expressed  in  his  interesting  book,  The 
Opera: 

"On  the  one  hand,  he  traces  his  musical  de- 
scent from  Gounod,  whose  sensuous  charm  he 
has  inherited  to  the  full;  on  the  other  he  has 
proved  himself  more  susceptible  to  the  influence 
of  Wagner  than  any  other  French  composer  of 
his  generation.  The  combination  is  extremely 
piquant,  and  it  says  much  for  Massenet's  in- 
dividuality that  he  has  contrived  to  blend  such 
differing  elements  into  a  fabric  of  undeniable 
beauty." 


IV 
FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS 


IV 

FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS 

THAIS 

WHEN  Oscar  Hammerstein  opened  his 
purse  and  with  American  gold — which 
no  prima-donna  has  ever  been  known 
to  scorn — induced  Mary  Garden  to  leave  the 
scene  of  her  many  triumphs — the  Opdra-Comique 
of  Paris — that  institution  appears  to  have  been 
left,  for  a  time,  somewhat  in  the  predicament  of 
the  denizens  of  Walhalla  (in  Wagner's  Rheingold) 
when  Freia,  the  goddess  of  youth  and  beauty,  was 
carried  off  by  the  giants.  It  was  as  a  devotee  of 
another  Venus,  the  ancient  Alexandrian  Aphrodite, 
that  Mary  Garden  made  her  American  de*but  at 
the  Manhattan  Opera  House,  on  November  25, 
1908,  as  Thais  in  Massenet's  opera. 

Were  it  not  known  that  Massenet  wrote  this 
opera  for  Sibyl  Sanderson,  who,  in  1894,  created 
the  title  r61e  hi  Paris,  one  might  readily  take  it 
for  granted  that  he  conceived  it  for  Mary  Garden, 
for  it  fits  her  personality  and  her  art  like  a  glove. 
75 


76      MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

The  libretto  is  based  on  the  well-known  novel 
of  Anatole  France,  from  which  it  was  adapted  by 
Louis  Gallet.  It  takes  us  to  Alexandria  in  the 
early  days  of  Christian  conflict  with  pagan  sen- 
suality, and  the  story  is  that  of  a  sinner  who  be- 
came a  saint  and  a  saint  who  became  a  sinner. 

Thais,  famed  as  an  actress  and  for  her  incom- 
parable beauty,  has  the  whole  city  enthralled. 
Her  profligacy  equals  her  beauty.  When  the 
curtain  rises  we  behold  a  scene  on  the  banks  of 
the  Nile,  a  gathering  of  the  saintly  dwellers  in 
the  desert,  known  as  the  Cenobites.  One  of  their 
number  is  Athanael,  who,  in  his  sleep,  has  a 
vision  (made  apparent  to  the  audience)  of  Thais 
in  the  theatre,  worshipped  by  the  mob  of  en- 
thusiasts. He  resolves  to  go  and  save  her. 

In  the  next  scene  we  find  him  on  the  terrace  of 
the  house  of  a  wealthy  Alexandrian,  Nicias,  a 
former  friend  of  Athanael,  and  one  of  the  numer- 
ous lovers  of  Thais.  She  is  to  come  to  his  house 
that  very  day,  and  the  monk  allows  himself  to  be 
decked  in  fine  garments  to  facilitate  access  to  her 
presence  and  consideration.  Her  attention  is  at 
once  attracted  by  the  fierce-eyed  stranger.  He 
boldly  announces  that  he  has  come  to  teach  her 
contempt  of  the  flesh,  love  of  pain,  austere  pen- 
ance. The  priestess  of  Venus  retorts  that  she  be- 
lieves but  in  love,  from  which  no  power  can  swerve 


FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS        77 

her;  but  in  the  next  scene,  in  the  house  of  Thais, 
which  Athanael  has  boldly  entered,  she  is  made 
serious  for  once  by  the  monk's  reference  to  the 
life  everlasting.  She  fears  death,  she  knows  beauty 
is  transient.  She  first  tries  by  her  allurements  to 
triumph  over  Athanael,  and  then,  awed  by  his 
sternness  and  defiance,  succumbs  to  fear.  With 
the  words:  "On  thy  doorstep  until  dawn,  I  shall 
await  thy  coming,"  he  leaves. 

The  result  of  the  struggle  in  her  soul  during 
the  night  is  that  in  the  morning  she  joins  him, 
ready  to  go  with  him  to  the  desert.  He  persuades 
her  to  set  fire  to  her  house;  the  mob  angrily 
resents  the  taking  away  of  their  idol,  but  Nicias 
throws  handfuls  of  gold  on  the  ground,  and  while 
the  populace  fights  over  it,  the  two  escape. 

We  see  them  in  the  next  scene  in  an  oasis, 
Thais  almost  dead  with  fatigue.  Athanael  at 
first  urges  her  on  fiercely,  but  relents  on  seeing 
her  plight,  and  refreshes  her  with  fruit  and  water. 
The  oasis  is  the  home  of  Albine  and  her  white- 
garbed  nuns.  Into  their  hands  he  delivers  Thais, 
and  then  returns  to  his  brethren  in  the  desert.  But 
in  vain  he  tries  by  fasting  to  get  rid  of  the  image 
of  the  beautiful  woman  he  has  saved.  He  sees 
her  again  in  another  vision;  he  hears  voices  telling 
him  she  is  dying;  he  awakes,  rushes  into  the 
darkness,  and  finds  Thais  on  her  death-bed.  He 


78      MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

tries  to  recall  her  to  life,  to  love,  to  carnal  happi- 
ness, but  visions  of  heaven  already  occupy  her 
mind,  and  she  dies  with  the  words,  "I  see  God." 

Undoubtedly,  for  musical  treatment,  this  is 
one  of  the  best  plots  ever  borrowed  from  a  novel 
since  Boieldieu  first  set  the  example  with  his 
Dame  Blanche.  It  is  a  subject,  moreover, 
peculiarly  suited  to  the  style  of  Massenet,  with 
his  penchant,  which  he  shared  with  Gounod,  for 
treating  the  conflict  of  worldly  with  religious 
emotions. 

This  story  of  the  courtesan  who  turned  from 
the  god  of  love  to  the  Love  of  God  was  one  that 
enlisted  all  his  sentimental  and  artistic  sym- 
pathies, the  consequence  being  that  he  penned 
for  it  some  of  his  most  inspired  pages. 

The  most  popular  of  these  is  the  intermezzo 
entitled  Meditation  Religieuse. 

Operatic  audiences  have  often  been  accused 
of  paying  little  or  no  attention  to  what  the  orches- 
tra plays.  Once  in  a  while,  however,  they  single 
out  an  orchestral  prelude  or  interlude  for  excep- 
tional and  extraordinary  applause. 

One  of  these  is  the  Meditation.  In  response  to 
tumultuous  applause,  Mr.  Campanini  had  to 
repeat  it  not  only  at  the  premiere  but  at  all  sub- 
sequent performances.  It  is  a  solo  for  violin 
accompanied  by  harp  and  strings — a  most  graceful 


FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS        79 

and  pleasing  melody,  simple,  sensuous,  pensive — 
a  gem  of  its  kind — one  of  those  heart-songs  which 
enchant  blase*  experts  as  well  as  the  general  public. 
It  symbolises  in  tones  the  conversion  of  Thais, 
having  for  its  poetic  content  the  words  she  ad- 
dresses in  the  morning  to  Athanael :  "  Thy  word 
has  remained  in  my  heart  as  a  balm  divine — 
I  prayed,  I  wept.  .  .  .  There  came  into  my 
soul  a  great  light.  Having  seen  the  nothing- 
ness of  all  passion,  to  thee  I  came  as  thou  com- 
mandest." 

So  beautiful  and  dramatically  expressive  a 
melody  as  this,  was  too  entrancing  to  be  heard 
only  once  or  twice.  Massenet  instinctively  used 
it  again  in  the  oasis  when  Athanael  so  evidently 
has  forgotten  everything  but  Thais,  and  once 
more  in  the  death  scene  of  Thais  to  delineate  the 
last  transport  of  her  soul. 

Repeated  hearings  bring  out  many  points  of 
beauty  in  the  Thais  score  beside  the  Meditation 
and  the  lovely  duo  in  the  oasis  (Baigne  d'eau 
tes  mains)  which  is  the  gem  of  the  opera.  At- 
mospherically the  music  is  admirable  and  follows 
the  plot  in  all  its  emotional  colour  from  the  char- 
acteristic monotony  of  the  The"baide  pictured  by 
the  plaintive  chant  of  the  monks,  to  the  scenes  of 
luxury  in  Alexandria.  Against  the  grey  back- 
ground of  the  Cenobites'  chorus  Athanael' s 


8o      MASSENET  AND   HIS   OPERAS 

virile  measures,  when  he  determines  to  go  to 
Alexandria  to  save  Thais,  stand  out  in  bold  out- 
line, but  they  remain  ecclesiastical  in  character, 
and  so  does  his  parting,  heard  farther  and  farther 
off  as  he  leaves  the  brethren  praying  for  him  in 
his  perilous  undertaking. 

One  of  the  most  fascinating  parts  of  the  score 
is  the  exotic  intermezzo  which  introduces  the 
scene  before  Thais' s  house.  It  is  not  specifically 
Egyptian  music,  such  as  we  have  in  Verdi's 
Aida,  but  Oriental  in  the  wider  sense,  which  in- 
cludes Russia,  and  with  its  persistent  hypnotising 
tambourine  beats,  its  tinkling  rhythmic  repetition 
of  the  same  charming  melodic  figure,  it  becomes 
almost  mesmeric  in  its  effect,  enveloping  the 
hearers  in  the  voluptuous  atmosphere  of  the  East 
and  contrasting  vividly  with  Athanael's  stern 
voice,  as  he  commands  Thais  to  destroy  every 
reminder  of  her  past  life,  even  the  beautiful  ivory 
statuette  of  Eros,  to  which  she  clings  and  which 
calls  out  his  special  jealous  aversion  because  it 
was  a  gift  from  Nicias. 

Again,  without  rising  to  great  dramatic  heights, 
the  final  intermezzo,  that  of  the  third  act,  is  finely 
characteristic  of  Athanael's  passionate,  frantic 
return  to  the  oasis,  the  frenzy  of  his  haste,  the 
suffering  of  the  many  days  he  has  spent  reaching 
the  longed-for  goal.  After  this  stormy  prelude 


FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS        81 

comes  the  peaceful,  sad  song  of  the  nuns, 
gathered  around  the  bed  of  the  dying  Thais, 
the  religious  harmonies  melting  suddenly  and 
beautifully  into  the  frenzied  ones  of  AthanaeTs 
approach. 

The  rdle  of  Athanael  seems  to  have  inspired 
Massenet  more  even  than  the  title  r61e,  for  to 
him  he  has  given  most  of  the  best  music  of  the 
opera.  One  very  effective  member  is  "Voila 
done  la  terrible  cite,"  which  he  sings  when  he  has 
returned  to  Alexandria  and  looks  out  over  its 
wicked  beauty,  so  emblematic  of  the  woman  he 
has  come  to  save. 

The  most  beautiful  music  for  Thais  comes  after 
her  conversion;  and,  apart  from  the  duo,  its  climax 
is  reached  in  her  farewell  to  Athanael,  a  farewell 
as  passionless  as  his  is  the  opposite.  It  will  be 
seen  that  there  are  few  salient  musical  features, 
arias  and  duos  appearing  only  where  the  situation 
demands  such  musical  treatment. 

The  musical  climax  of  the  opera  is  reached  in 
the  exquisitely  simple,  emotional  duo  which 
Thais  and  Athanael  sing  after  reaching  the  oasis, 
to  which  his  harshness  has  unrelentingly  driven 
the  delicate  woman.  Thais  has  forgotten  the 
world  and  its  pleasures,  but  to  Athanael  suddenly 
comes  the  awakening,  and  he  has  the  tender  joy 
of  ministering  to  the  needs  of  the  beloved  creature 

6 


8a      MASSENET  AND   HIS   OPERAS 

whose  feet  are  bleeding  because  she  has  followed 
him  uncomplainingly  through  the  desert.  All 
his  compassion,  all  his  tenderness,  the  exquisite 
mixture  of  earthly  and  heavenly  love,  sound  in 
the  music  which  accompanies  the  words,  Baigne 
cFeau  tes  mains  et  tes  l&ures.  One  never  tires  of 
its  charming  melody  and  lovely  harmonies.  It 
is  one  of  Massenet's  purest  gems. 

Owing  to  the  fear  that  it  might  prove  monot- 
onous, the  scene  of  AthanaeTs  confession  to 
Palemon,  and  his  temptation  afterward,  were 
omitted  in  New  York,  and  this  made  an  unfor- 
tunate break  in  the  continuity  of  the  story.  How- 
ever, at  this  point  the  libretto  leaves  out,  perforce, 
the  most  striking  part  of  the  book,  the  terrible 
description  of  AthanaeTs  long  struggle  to  mortify 
the  flesh  and  regain  his  peace  of  mind,  and  the 
final  complete  fall  when  he  curses  God  and  man. 
Thais  is  dying.  Another  Cenobite,  Paul  le 
Simple,  has  had  the  vision,  and  Athanael  sees 
nothing  else,  hears  nothing  else.  Why  should 
the  sun,  the  flowers,  the  universe  exist  when  she 
is  dying?  Like  a  madman  he  makes  his  way  to 
the  Nile  and  takes  a  boat  which  for  days  travels 
slowly  toward  the  loved  one.  Sometimes  he  is 
in  the  depths  of  sorrow,  at  others  he  is  insane, 
screaming  with  agony.  The  pains  of  hell  would 
be  nothing  to  him  to  buy  one  moment  of  her 


HI 

Copyright  by  Mlahkin  Studio,  JV.  y. 

CHARLES   DALMORES  AS  NICIAS  IN   "THAIS' 


FIVE   MANHATTAN  OPERAS        83 

love,  and  he,  fool  that  he  had  been,  had  refused 
the  ecstasy  of  that  love.  He  had  not  even  the 
memory  of  such  a  moment  to  carry  with  him  to 
hell.  No  wonder  his  face  was  that  of  a  vampire 
from  which  the  holy  nuns  fled  in  terror.  "He 
had  become  so  hideous  that  in  passing  his  hand 
across  his  face  he  could  feel  its  horror."  Thus 
ends  the  book. 

So  far  as  the  singers  are  concerned  Thais  is 
practically  a  long  duo.  Nicias  has  little  to  say, 
although  M.  Dalmores,  who  took  this  small  part 
in  the  first  New  York  performances,  made  it  as 
important  as  it  was  capable  of  being  made.  All 
the  interest  centres  in  the  struggle  between  Thais 
and  Athanael. 

It  is  a  pity  that  the  libretto  gives  no  chance  to 
Thais  to  show  herself  as  Anatole  France  pictures 
her,  a  soul  longing  to  find  the  better  side  of  life, 
but  unable,  owing  to  her  surroundings  and  her 
great  beauty,  to  struggle  out  of  the  mire  which 
holds  her  fatally.  From  this  point  of  view  her 
sudden  conversion  does  not  seem  improbable,  as 
it  well  might  in  the  opera  if  Athanael' s  part  were 
acted  by  an  artist  inferior  to  Maurice  Renaud. 
He  carries  the  absolute  conviction  of  his  power 
to  save,  and  his  hearers  are  as  sure  of  AthanaeTs 
strength  as  he  is  himself. 

As   Thais,  the  arch-temptress,    Miss   Garden 


84      MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

made  one  comprehend  the  Parisian  enthusiasm 
for  her  unique  personality.  Hers  is  an  indi- 
viduality to  be  reckoned  with.  She  has  beauty  of 
face  and  still  more  of  form.  She  is  plump,  yet 
slender,  she  has  a  feline  grace  of  movement  as 
well  as  beauty  of  line,  and  she  does  not  hide  her 
light  under  a  bushel.  To  these  personal  attrac- 
tions and  to  the  fervour  of  her  acting  she  owes 
her  fame  and  popularity.  With  all  her  audacity, 
her  enactment  of  the  r61e  of  the  priestess  of 
Venus  was  free  from  vulgarity;  it  was  sensual, 
yet  not  offensive.  Her  face  lends  itself  to  many 
shades  of  expression;  and  there  are  not  a  few 
places  where  she  revealed  the  art  of  a  consum- 
mate actress.  She  portrays  the  part  of  Thais  with 
her  whole  soul  as  well  as  her  whole  body;  and 
what  is  more  it  is  when  the  soul  wins  the  day  that 
she  is  at  her  best.  The  scene  where,  after  a  final 
attempt  to  triumph  over  the  monk  with  her 
physical  charms,  she  throws  herself  at  his  feet 
overawed,  weeping  and  groaning,  is  one  of  several 
in  this  opera  which,  thanks  to  her  histrionic  art 
and  that  of  M.  Renaud,  no  one  who  has  seen 
is  likely  to  forget.  Nor  can  one  wonder  at  the 
terror  she  feels  of  the  unknown  life  the  austere 
monk  proposes  to  her,  nor  feel  surprised  at  his 
fear  of  her,  his  terror-stricken  eyes,  his  prayer 
for  help  when  she  exerts  her  powers  to  the  utmost 


Copyright  bv  Mishkin  Studio,  N,  Y. 

MARY  GARDEN  AS  THAIS 


FIVE  MANHATTAN   OPERAS        85 

to  vanquish  him.  Wonderfully  Miss  Garden 
and  M.  Renaud  played  into  each  other's  hands, 
each  inspiring  the  other. 

Were  Miss  Garden  as  great  a  singer  as  she  is 
an  actress,  she  would  have  few  rivals  in  the 
operatic  world,  past  or  present,  but  unfortunately 
this  is  not  the  case.  Her  higher  voice  is  shrill 
and  acid  in  quality  at  times,  and  not  always  true; 
whereas  the  middle  and  lower  voice  are  of  far 
finer  quality.  One  note  in  her  Thais  is  always 
exquisite,  and  that  is  the  floating,  long-drawn-out 
high  A  which  she  sings  as  she  leaves  Athanael 
to  go  to  the  convent.  However,  she  has  much 
fervour  in  her  singing,  and  one  may  agree  with  the 
modern  French  and  German  ideas:  "Better 
that  fervour  with  a  few  flaws  than  bel  canto  without 
fervour."  Her  singing  has  the  dramatic  quality — 
passionate  intensity  of  utterance  and  emotional 
realism,  and  because  of  these  virtues  we  must 
overlook  the  general  lack  of  sensuous  beauty. 

Though  the  issue  is  different,  one  cannot  but 
feel  in  not  a  few  places  that  Massenet,  if  not  his 
librettist,  had  in  mind  memories  of  Parsifal,  and 
there  is  more  than  a  suggestion  in  the  impersona- 
tion of  Athanel  by  M.  Renaud.  This  r61e  of 
Athanael  added  one  more  to  the  gallery  of  un- 
forgettable impersonations  that  M.  Renaud  has 
favoured  us  with.  In  the  early  scenes  he  was 


every  inch  the  saint — stern,  impulsive  for 
his  cause,  fanatical  in  pursuance  of  his 
purpose.  Every  movement  of  his  marvellously 
beautiful  and  soulful  eyes — and  what  actor  ever 
had  such  talking  eyes  as  Renaud  has? — was 
eloquent  with  spirituality.  One  needed  no  book 
nor  spoken  words  to  realise  the  gradual  change 
of  the  saint  to  the  sinner  in  thought,  the  triumph 
of  the  man  over  the  monk.  Few  of  the  pictures 
in  Darwin's  book  on  the  expression  of  the 
emotions  illustrate  the  passions  so  legibly  as 
this  French  actor  illustrates  the  change  from 
the  austere  monk  to  the  sinning  man,  who,  en- 
slaved by  carnal  charms,  ends  by  imploring  the 
sinner  he  has  converted  into  a  saint  to  become 
a  sinner  again. 

One  remarkable  characteristic  of  M.  Renaud 
is  that  when  he  has  seemingly  reached  perfection 
he  is  never  satisfied,  but  continues  to  elaborate 
and  enrich  each  r61e  with  numberless  details. 
It  would  be  impossible  to  change  the  part  of 
Athanael  in  any  marked  degree  from  its  general 
outline,  but  by  many  subtle  touches,  by  an  added 
emphasis  to  one  or  another  of  Athanael' s  charac- 
teristics, Renaud  makes  the  monk  sometimes 
tender,  sometimes  stern,  sometimes  more  of  a 
man,  sometimes  more  of  a  saint.  Perhaps  the 
finest  performances  were  those  where  the  human 


Phutugruph  by  E.  S.  Bennett,  N.  Y. 

MAURICE  RENAUD  AS   ATHANAEL   IN   "  THAIS " 


FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS        87 

side  was  uppermost,  the  sternness  that  of  a  pas- 
sionate, jealous  man  rather  than  that  of  an  ascetic 
cenobite.  Not  that  he  failed  to  accent  Athanael's 
real  holiness,  for  his  certainty  of  conquering 
Thais' s  worse  nature  and  his  joy  at  his 
victory  were  always  wonderfully  expressed  in 
voice  and  face;  but  sometimes  the  struggle  to 
keep  in  the  path  of  purity  was  more  apparent 
than  at  others.  One  very  dramatic  moment, 
one  of  many,  was  the  intensely  repressive  way 
in  which  he  asked  Nicias  if  he  knows  "cette 
comedienne,  Thais."  The  momentary  hesitation 
at  using  her  name  and  the  tremendous  eager- 
ness with  which  he  speaks  when  the  flood- 
gates are  opened,  told  the  whole  story.  It  had 
in  it  what  Jean  de  Reszke  used  to  put  into 
the  name  Isolde,  the  whole  pent-up  feeling  of 
a  great  lover.  Thais  is  right  when  she  asks 
him  why  he  fails  to  fulfil  his  destiny,  "Homme 
fait  pour  aimer." 

All  through  the  opera,  those  who  have  read 
Anatole  France's  book  will  realize  that  Renaud 
follows  that  more  closely  than  he  does  the  libretto, 
but  it  is  his  return  at  the  end  of  the  opera  which 
makes  this  most  emphatic.  When  he  reappeared 
to  find  Thais  dying,  he  looked  as  if  he  had  been 
through  the  tortures  of  the  damned.  All  the 
many  weary  days  of  useless  self-punishment,  all 


88      MASSENET  AND   HIS   OPERAS 

the  agonies  of  waiting,  longing,  all  the  hope,  fear, 
blasphemy,  were  indelibly  marked  in  his  face 
with  its  bloodless  lips,  waxy  color,  and  burning 
eyes.  Even  his  outstretched,  clutching  hands 
told  the  story  of  his  intolerable  longing,  and  that 
hell  itself  would  be  Paradise  if  only  she  were 
there.  All  the  beauty  of  his  face  was  gone — a 
face  which,  earlier  in  the  opera,  might  well  have 
served  some  of  the  great  Italians  as  a  model  for 
Christ's  head — and  only  the  naked,  writhing  soul 
appeared  to  terrify  the  holy  women.  Nor  is 
M.  Renaud's  voice  less  great  than  his  histrionic 
gifts.  It  is  full  and  sonorous,  saturated  with  deep 
feeling,  and  he  uses  it  with  complete  understand- 
ing of  all  its  resources.  Who  will  ever  forget  the 
expression  of  intense  anguish — what  the  French 
call  tears  in  the  voice — of  his  heartbroken  "Je 
ne  la  verrai  plus,"  an  emotional  climax  which 
caused  Geraldine  Farrar  on  one  occasion  to 
burst  out  in  uncontrollable  enthusiasm  of  applause 
and  exclamations  of  "Wonderful!  Superb!" 
and  caused  her  to  say  more  than  once  to  her  com- 
panion: "I  can't  get  away  from  it.  It  grips 
my  heart." 

Lucky  Massenet,  lucky  Anatole  France  to 
have  their  creations  thus  set  forth  on  the  operatic 
stage) 

It   was   evidently   not   thus   that    Thais   was 


FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS        89 

represented  at  its  premiere  in  the  Paris  Ope'ra, 
on  March  16,  1894,  although  the  cast  included 
Sibyl  Sanderson  as  Thais,  Delmas  as  Athanael, 
and  Alvarez  as  Nicias.  Or  was  it  that  the  critics 
and  the  public  failed  to  see  the  beauties  of  this 
opera  at  once,  as  they  failed  in  the  cases  of  Faust 
and  Carmen  ? 

At  any  rate  it  had  twenty-seven  representations 
in  1894,  but  only  four  in  the  following  year. 
Felix  Grenier  wrote  in  Le  Journal:  "It  is  hardly 
probable  that  curiosity  to  see  the  ballet  in  the 
third  act  of  Thais  will  suffice  to  keep  this  work  in 
the  repertory."  And  Hugues  Imbert,  who  cited 
this  in  1897,  added,  "his  prediction  proved 
correct." 

But  the  attitude  of  the  public  gradually  changed. 
In  May,  1910,  Thais  had  its  hundredth  perform- 
ance in  Paris.  In  New  York  it  remained  the 
best  "draw"  in  the  Manhattan  repertory  for  three 
seasons,  Oscar  Hammerstein's  sole  complaint 
being  that  the  public  ignored  other  operas,  want- 
ing to  hear  Thais  and  always  Thais.  Much  of 
this,  to  be  sure,  was  due  to  the  art  and  the  popu- 
larity of  Mary  Garden,  Maurice  Renaud,  and 
Charles  Dalmores;  but  the  opera  itself  was  better 
liked  after  repeated  hearing — the  supreme  test  of 
genuine  merit. 


90      MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

LE  JONGLEUR  DE  NOTRE   DAME 

An  opera  without  violins  was  written  by  the 
French  composer,  Me'hul;  he  substituted  for  them 
violas,  because  he  wanted  a  sombre  atmosphere 
throughout.  The  result  was  adjudged  monoto- 
nous. 

It  remained  for  the  gentle,  unrevolutionary 
Massenet  to  try  a  still  more  hazardous  experiment 
— an  opera  without  a  prima -donna. 

Even  Wagner,  arch-enemy  of  the  prima-donna 
operas,  never  went  as  far  as  that.  While  men 
do  most  of  the  singing  in  his  Siegfried,  there  are, 
nevertheless,  some  feminine  episodes — the  charm- 
ing song  of  the  Forest  Bird,  the  thrilling  warning 
of  Erda,  the  glorious  outpouring  of  Brunnhilde's 
voice  and  soul  in  the  last  scene.  But  in  Le 
Jongleur  de  Notre  Dame  all  the  rdles  are  for  men 
— a  juggler,  a  cook,  and  five  monks. 

How  did  Massenet  come  to  write  such  a  singular 
work? 

It  was  his  seventeenth  opera.  The  critics  had 
accused  him  of  harping  forever  on  the  same 
string — the  theme  of  woman,  of  frail  femininity 
in  particular.  There  were  Mary  Magdalen  and 
Manon,  Esclarmonde,  and  Thais — always  the 
same  type. 

Inasmuch  as  Massenet  was,  as  we  have  seen, 


FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS        91 

very  sensitive  to  criticisms,  one  might  guess  that  it 
was  because  of  these  that  he  made  such  a  radical 
change,  leaving  out  woman  and  love  altogether. 
Apparently,  however,  the  new  departure  was  a 
mere  accident. 

One  day,  so  the  story  goes,  Massenet  went 
down-stairs  to  receive  from  the  postman  a  regis- 
tered package,  his  doorkeeper  happening  to  be 
away.  It  proved  to  be  a  manuscript  libretto. 
Had  the  concierge  been  at  his  post,  it  is  not  likely 
that  the  composer  would  ever  have  seen  this  MS. 
Librettos  came  to  him  from  everywhere  un- 
solicited, for  playwrights  knew  that  to  be  associ- 
ated with  him  meant  almost  certain  success;  but 
he  had  found  most  of  them  so  unsatisfactory  that 
he  had  ceased  to  pay  any  attention  to  them. 

Fortunately,  on  this  occasion,  he  had  just  been 
packing  his  valise  for  a  trip  to  the  country.  He 
put  the  MS.  left  by  the  postman  in  with  the  other 
things,  read  it  on  the  tram,  and  was  so  fascinated 
that  he  promptly  communicated  with  the  author, 
whose  name  was  Maurice  Le*na. 

M.  Le*na  was  a  professor  at  the  University, 
known  for  his  scholarship  and  his  habit  of  delving 
among  mediaeval  legends.  He  promptly  came 
to  see  Massenet,  who  suggested  some  slight 
changes  and  then  accepted  the  libretto  for  his 
next  opera. 


92      MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

The  plot  is  based  on  one  of  the  stories  of 
Anatole  France's  L'fctui  de  Nacre,  which  in  turn 
harks  back  to  a  mediaeval  miracle  play — one  of 
those  legends  of  monks  and  marvels  which  used 
to  be  so  popular  that  they  had  to  be  enacted  in 
cemeteries  and  market  places  because  the  churches 
could  not  hold  all  who  were  eager  to  hear 
them.* 

The  curtain  rises  on  a  gay  scene  of  fourteenth- 
century  life  in  the  square  in  front  of  the  Abbey 
of  Cluny.  It  is  a  market  day  in  May.  Peasants 
in  their  stalls  are  selling  vegetables  and  dairy 
products;  boys  and  girls  dance;  a  monk  calls 
out  that  indulgences  are  for  sale  at  the  great 
altar.  Presently  cries  are  heard:  "Un  jongleur, 
un  jongleur!" 

A  moment  later  Jean  appears.  He  is  poorly 
attired  and  looks  starved;  some  laugh  when  he 
announces  himself  as  the  king  of  jugglers.  He 
mentions  diverse  tricks  of  his  trade  wherewith 
he  offers  to  entertain  them,  but  they  will  have 
none  of  these  old  things.  "Give  us  rather  a 
drinking  song,"  they  exclaim,  and  approve  of 
his  choice  of  the  "Hallelujah  of  Wine,"  which  he 
sings  with  apologies  for  the  "sacrilege  chanson," 

*  The  legend  in  its  original  form  is  related  by  Gaston  Paris 
in  his  £tude  sur  la  poesie  franfaise  au  May  en  Age  under  the 
title  of  Le  Tombeor  de  Nostre  Dame. 


FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS        93 

but  "one  must  earn  one's  bread,  and  if  my  heart 
is  Christian,  why  is  my  belly  pagan?" 

While  he  is  finishing  it  the  door  of  the  Abbey 
opens  violently  and  the  Prior  appears.  All 
escape  except  Jean.  The  Prior  reprimands  and 
tries  to  persuade  him  to  abandon  his  wicked 
profession  and  turn  monk.  "The  Virgin  will 
pardon  you  if,  from  to-night,  you  will  become 
my  brother  in  this  convent." 

Jean  is  disinclined  to  give  up  his  free  life,  but 
he  is  very  hungry,  and  when  Boniface,  the  cook, 
appears  opportunely  with  a  donkey  laden  with 
vegetables,  sausages,  poultry,  and  other  things 
good  to  eat,  not  to  speak  of  flasks  of  wine,  his 
appetite  becomes  the  Prior's  ally  and  he  succumbs, 
joining  the  monks  at  the  table,  after  smuggling  in 
his  jugglery  outfit. 

In  the  second  act  we  find  Jean  a  regular  in- 
mate of  the  monastery.  He  has  grown  more 
portly;  his  new  life  seems  to  agree  with  him; 
and  yet  he  is  not  happy — he  is  too  different  from 
the  other  monks,  all  of  whom  have  some  specialty 
to  while  away  time,  while  he  has  none.  The 
Musician  Monk  rehearses  his  brethren  in  a  motet 
which  he  has  composed  for  the  feast  of  the  As- 
sumption. Then  he  and  the  Painter  Monk,  the 
Sculptor  Monk,  and  the  Poet  Monk  get  into  a 
dispute  as  to  the  relative  value  of  their  arts,  each 


94      MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

one  advising  Jean  to  adopt  his  art  as  the  best. 
The  Prior  ends  the  dispute  and  takes  them  all  to 
the  chapel. 

Left  alone  with  the  cook,  who  has  always  shown 
a  kind  interest  in  him,  Jean  laments  that  he 
alone,  knowing  no  Latin  and  none  of  the  fine 
arts,  has  no  way  of  doing  homage  to  the  Virgin; 
but  Boniface  tries  to  persuade  him  that  Latin 
and  the  fine  arts  are  not  a  necessity;  whoever 
does  his  work  well,  acts  meritoriously;  "a  capon, 
cooked  to  a  turn,  is  worth  a  thousand  poems." 
Then  he  sings  him  the  legend  about  Mary  and 
the  Infant  Jesus,  whose  life  was  saved  from  the 
pursuers  by  the  humble  sageplant,  which  hid 
Him  in  its  leaves  after  the  proud  rose  had  refused 
to  do  so  for  fear  of  spoiling  the  crimson  of  her 
dress. 

Thus  is  Jean  taught  that  the  Virgin  is  not 
proud;  that,  in  her  eyes,  the  juggler  is  as  good 
as  the  artist  or  king.  He  makes  up  his  mind  to 
do  homage  to  her  in  his  own  way,  and  in  the  last 
act  he  carries  out  this  plan,  going  through  his 
various  juggler's  tricks  in  front  of  the  image  of 
the  Virgin.  He  is  observed  by  one  of  the  other 
monks  and  the  Prior  is  hastily  summoned.  He 
arrives  with  the  other  monks,  who,  scandalized 
by  the  sacrilege,  shout,  "Anathema!"  "Death 
to  the  impious!"  while  Jean  is  too  much  ab- 


FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS        95 

sorbed  in  his  devotional  antics  to  hear  or  see  any- 
thing. 

For  a  time  Boniface  is  able  to  restrain  the 
monks  from  interfering.  At  last  their  fury 
reaches  such  a  pitch  that  they  are  about  to  throw 
themselves  on  him,  when  Boniface  stops  them  by 
pointing  at  the  image  of  the  Virgin.  "  A  miracle ! " 
all  exclaim.  The  statue  has  begun  to  shine  with 
a  strange  light,  growing  brighter  and  brighter. 
The  Virgin  has  come  to  life;  with  a  smile  on  her 
lips  she  inclines  her  head  lovingly  and  extends  her 
hands  to  bless  Jean.  The  voices  of  angels  are 
heard,  chanting  "Hosannah!  Glory  to  Jean." 
The  monks,  falling  on  their  knees,  respond  with 
Kyrie  Eleison, 
Christe  exaudi  nos, 
Sancta  Maria,  ora  pro  nobis," 
and  the  juggler,  exclaiming:  "At  last  I  under- 
stand Latin!"  falls  back  dead.  Once  more  the 
celestial  voices  are  heard  and  the  halo  descends 
from  the  statue  and  shimmers  over  Jean's  head. 
Be  he  Catholic  or  Protestant,  agnostic  or 
Hebrew,  no  one  at  all  capable  of  feeling  emotion 
can  help  being  thrilled  by  this  last  scene,  which, 
in  its  way,  is  as  impressive  as  the  final  tableau  in 
Wagner's  Parsifal.  Poet,  composer,  and  scenic 
artist  have  here  succeeded  in  producing  a  complete 
illusion,  enabling  a  modern  audience  to  experience 


96      MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

the  same  ecstatic  feelings  that  swayed  the  monks 
who,  according  to  the  legend,  witnessed  that 
miracle. 

To  create  such  an  ecstatic  feeling,  music  is 
necessary — the  Church  always  uses  it  as  an  aid; 
and  the  fact  that  Massenet's  music  here  rises  to 
the  height  of  the  situation  speaks  volumes  for 
his  genius.  The  mystic  ecstasies  of  the  monastery 
are  expressed  by  him  with  a  delightful  art  of 
creating  atmosphere. 

Atmosphere  seems  to  be  what  modern  operatic 
audiences  crave  above  all  things.  To  Debussy's 
skill  in  creating  it  is  owing  the  success  of  his 
PeUias  et  Melisande.  Parsifal,  which  was  pro- 
duced twenty  years  before  PelUas,  is  intensely 
atmospheric — one  breathes  the  very  air  of  legend 
in  listening  to  it;  and  the  same  is  true  of 
the  Jongleur,  which  is  equally  mediaeval  and 
monastic. 

This  is  true  not  only  of  the  final  climax,  but  of 
the  whole  score.  In  the  opening  market-scene 
we  are  among  the  populace,  and  the  songs  and 
dances  have  a  popular  character,  suggesting  folk 
tunes.  In  other  places,  too,  especially  in  Jean's 
songs  addressed  to  the  virgin  in  the  last  act,  old 
French  folk  music  is  used  or  imitated  to  heighten 
the  "atmospheric"  effects. 

Altogether  delightful  is  the  second  act,  in  which 


FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS        97 

Massenet  displays  his  contrapuntal  skill  and  his 
knowledge  of  mediaeval  church  music. 

It  has  been  the  fashion  among  a  certain  class 
of  critics  to  speak  condescendingly  of  Massenet  as 
a  man  who,  no  doubt,  could  toss  off  a  pretty  tune 
when  needed,  but  who  was  unversed  in  the  deeper 
mysteries  of  the  art  of  composition. 

The  whole  score  of  the  Jongleur,  the  second 
act  in  particular,  proves  the  incorrectness  of  this 
attitude. 

As  we  saw  in  the  Biographic  Sketch,  he  was  for 
eighteen  years  Professor  of  Harmony  at  the  Con- 
servatoire, teaching  the  technic  of  composition 
to  a  number  of  students  who  have  since  become 
famous.  But  he  was  never  one  of  those  who 
aim  to  astonish  the  natives  by  parading  their 
knowledge  and  technic. 

He  preferred  to  learn  and  practise  the  art  of 
concealing  art,  and  it  is  this  art  that  one  has 
occasion  to  admire  on  almost  every  page  of  this 
operatic  score.  While  the  ordinary  opera-goer 
appreciates  it  only  in  a  general  way,  in  so  far  as  it 
helps  to  create  atmosphere,  an  expert  cannot  but 
admire  the  many  subtle  touches  of  contrapuntal 
skill  and  ecclesiastic  colouring  interwoven  into 
the  argument  between  the  four  monks  regarding 
their  arts,  and  the  preceding  choral  rehearsal. 
It  is  much  easier  to  let  us  see  the  interior  of  a 
7 


98      MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

mediaeval  convent  than  to  let  us  hear  it;  but 
Massenet  has  succeeded. 

He  has  succeeded  also  in  the  equally  difficult 
art  of  imparting  genuinely  humourous  and  comic 
touches  to  his  music.  Among  these  may  be  named 
the  drinking-song,  or  Alleluia  du  Vin,  and  Boni- 
face's praise  of  his  viands  on  the  burro's  back, 
besides  Jean's  songs  to  the  Virgin  in  the  last  act 
in  which  humour  is  paired  with  pathos.  Of 
pathos  not  allied  with  comedy  there  is  also  plenty, 
and  the  composer  augments  it  with  his  apt  har- 
monies and  orchestral  colours  as  he  does  the 
humourous  episodes  and  the  mysticism  which  is 
the  key-note  of  the  whole  opera. 

In  a  word,  this  operatic  miracle  play  is  a  gem. 
Massenet  knew  he  had  created  a  masterwork. 
To  a  journalist  he  remarked:  "I  have  produced 
a  work  into  which  I  have  put  all  the  love  my  heart 
possesses,  all  of  my  faith  and  tenderness;  but  a 
work  of  pure  art,  for  which  I  dreamt  of  a  theatre 
in  which  I  could  give  free  vent  to  all  my  artistic 
aspirations  without  being  hampered  by  exactions 
which,  also,  are  natural  with  a  public  used  to 
certain  formulas." 

Le  Jongleur  de  Notre  Dame  had  its  first  per- 
formance in  1892,  at  Monte  Carlo.  Two  years 
later  the  Parisians  first  heard  it,  and  subsequently 
it  was  produced  at  some  of  the  German  opera- 


FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS        99 

houses.  London  heard  it  in  1906.  At  all  of 
these  performances  the  part  of  Jean  was  sung  by 
a  light  tenor. 

Not  so  when  Oscar  Hammerstein  produced 
the  Jongleur  at  the  Manhattan  Opera  House,  on 
November  27,  1008.  He  seems  to  have  had  his 
doubts  whether  an  opera  without  the  ewig 
Weibliche  in  the  guise — or,  rather,  the  disguise — 
of  a  prima-donna  would  appeal  to  the  New  York 
public;  so  Massenet  was  prevailed  upon  to  alter 
the  part  of  the  Juggler  sufficiently  to  make  it 
possible  for  Mary  Garden  to  assume  it,  in  male 
garb;  and  the  sequel  proved  the  wisdom  of  this 
proceeding. 

Miss  Garden  succeeded  surprisingly  in  disguis- 
ing her  femininity  both  in  face  and  form,  and  the 
tonsure  gave  the  finishing  touch.  In  the  opening 
scene  she  enacted  the  part  of  the  poor,  unskilled 
juggler  with  many  touches  of  realism  that  evoked 
sympathy.  There  was  something  specially  appeal- 
ing about  her  after  she  had  gone  into  the  monas- 
tery. She  bubbled  over  with  playfulness  and  yet 
conveyed  to  the  audience  an  impression  of  exquis- 
ite youthful  reverence.  If  she  had  worn  a  red  cloak 
instead  of  a  white  one  she  would  have  looked 
completely  like  Abbey's  "Sir  Galahad,"  especially 
in  the  picture  where  Galahad  fails  to  ask  the 
question.  Miss  Garden's  eyes  had  this  lovely, 


ioo     MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

innocent,  wondering  look  in  them,  especially 
when  M.  Renaud  was  telling  her  the  story  of  the 
Christ-baby  being  hidden  from  his  pursuers  in  the 
flowering  sage.  Her  singing  was  at  first  strident 
and  above  pitch,  but  it  improved  gradually,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  second  act  she  sang  the  "  Vierge 
mere  d' amour"  with  a  vocal  beauty  and  a  vocal 
art  altogether  delightful. 

As  to  Maurice  Renaud,  he  added  another  strik- 
ing picture  to  his  operatic  gallery.  Who  could 
have  imagined  that  the  jolly,  fat,  red-faced  Boni- 
face, with  kindly  eyes,  the  friendliest  smile,  and 
a  passion  for  making  fine  nougats  and  creams, 
could  be  the  same  man  as  the  wicked  Scarpia  in 
Tosca,  as  the  fanatical  Athanael  in  Thais?  His 
unctuous  praise  of  the  old  Macon  wine,  his  funny 
change  from  the  reverence  of  the  Benedicite  to 
the  more  important  matter  of  dining,  brought 
laughter  from  the  whole  house,  as  did  also  his 
earnest  preparing  of  vegetables  in  the  second  act. 
The  high-water  mark  of  the  evening  was  reached, 
however,  in  the  exquisite  narrative  of  the  sage 
brush  opening  to  hide  the  Christ-child.  Here 
M.  Renaud' s  eyes  were  a  study  of  tenderness, 
human  and  divine,  and  his  smile  when  the  Child 
was  safe  illuminated  his  homely  face  to  a  kind  of 
unearthly  beauty.  His  vocal  interpretation  of 
the  music  had  the  same  charm  as  his  acting — 


Copyright  by  Davis  &  Eickemeuer.  -V.   1". 

CHARLES   GILIBERT 
AS   BONIFACE  IN   "  LE  JONGLEUR  DE  NOTRE   DAME" 


FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS      101 

the  charm  of  mirroring  the  text  at  every 
moment. 

At  two  of  the  subsequent  performances  the 
part  of  Boniface  was  taken  by  Charles  Gilibert, 
a  true  artist  who  often  accepts  minor  rdles  when 
he  is  quite  able  to  do  justice  to  the  major  ones. 
The  opera  was  sung  seven  times  during  the  season 
of  1908-9,  and  five  times  during  1909-10.  At  the 
last  performance  Mr.  Hammerstein  made  an 
unfortunate  but  interesting  experiment.  Most 
of  the  newspaper  critics  had  complained  that  by 
assigning  the  part  of  Jean  to  a  disguised  woman, 
the  manager  had,  to  some  extent,  marred  the 
spirit  of  Massenet's  opera.  Accordingly,  on  this 
occasion,  the  excellent  young  tenor,  M.  Devries, 
was  asked  to  impersonate  Jean,  while  M. 
Duffranne  appeared  as  Boniface. 

The  result  was  that,  whereas  the  opera  had 
always  drawn  a  crowded  house  when  given  with 
the  original  cast,  on  this  occasion  Cavalleria 
Rusticana  had  to  be  added  to  the  bill  to  draw  an 
audience,  the  advance  sale  having  been  surpris- 
ingly small.  The  public  having,  for  two  seasons, 
always  associated  Jean  with  Mary  Garden,  re- 
fused to  have  anyone  else  in  the  part.  And  the 
public  was  led  by  a  correct  instinct.  While  the 
old  custom  of  assigning  such  r61es  as  Orpheus 
(Gluck),  and  Romeo  (Bellini)  to  women  was 


io2     MASSENET  AND   HIS   OPERAS 

ridiculous,  the  same  adjective  does  not  apply 
to  this  case.  The  Juggler,  to  be  sure,  is  a  man, 
but  he  is  not  at  all  manly  in  any  of  his  acts.  In 
his  passivity,  his  appeal  to  one's  sympathies,  his 
dependence  on  Boniface,  he  is  really  feminine, 
and  this  aspect  of  the  character  makes  it  more 
of  a  part  for  a  woman.  Mary  Garden  succeeded 
in  disguising  her  femininity — which  is  so  pro- 
nounced and  alluring  in  Thai's  and  other  rdles — 
in  a  most  amazing  manner;  yet  there  remained 
an  ineradicable  residuum  of  herself  which  was 
just  what  the  part  calls  for.* 

HfRODIADE 

After  the  monstrous,  degenerate,  mentally- 
diseased  Salome  imagined  by  Oscar  Wilde  and 
set  to  music  by  Richard  Strauss,  it  was  a  relief 
for  sane  opera-goers  in  New  York  to  make  the 
acquaintance  of  a  more  human  Salome,  a  Salome 
who,  instead  of  demanding  the  death  of  John  the 
Baptist  and  gloating  necrophilistically  over  his 
severed  head,  loves  him  with  a  maiden  love  and 
stabs  herself  when  she  hears  he  has  been  executed 

*  See  the  remarks  on  Mary  Garden's  assumption  of  the 
part  of  a  youth  in  another  of  Massenet's  operas — Cherubin — 
in  the  pages  devoted  to  it.  The  librettist  objected,  but 
Massenet  would  have  it  so. 


FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS        103 

by  order  of  her  mother,  Herodias.  This  is  the 
Salome  of  Massenet's  opera  Hfrodiade,  which 
had  its  first  American  performance  at  the  Man- 
hattan Opera  House,  on  November  8,  1909. 

The  story  of  this  opera  is  not  only  characteristi- 
cally Parisian,  but  obviously  made  to  fit  Massenet's 
peculiar  cast  of  thought.  The  personages  are 
Oriental,  but  only  for  the  sake  of  local  colour;  and 
their  sentiments,  as  well  as  the  beautiful  airs  they 
sing,  are  modern  French.  Yet,  thanks  to  the 
splendours  of  grand  opera,  scenic,  processional, 
and  saltatorial,  one  enjoys  the  feeling  of  having 
made  a  trip  to  Palestine. 

Jerusalem  is  the  scene  of  the  opera,  Herod's 
palace  its  opening  picture.  In  London,  where 
this  opera  was  produced  in  1904,  under  the  name 
of  Salome,  the  story  was  transferred  to  Ethiopia 
by  order  of  the  censor.  Yet  there  is  nothing  in  it 
to  offend  even  those  who  do  not  believe  in  bringing 
Biblical  personages  and  tales  on  the  stage,  for 
Massenet's  librettists  concocted  for  him  a  plot 
which  deviates  entirely  from  the  account  of  the 
episode  of  Herod,  Herodias,  her  daughter,  and 
St.  John,  given  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Mark,  and 
followed  in  the  Wilde-Strauss  opera. 

In  Massenet's  opera,  Salome  does  not  know 
that  she  is  the  daughter  of  Herodias,  from  whom 
she  was  mysteriously  separated  in  childhood.  In 


104    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

the  first  act,  we  see  her  on  her  incessant  search 
for  her  mother,  which  has  brought  her  to  Jerusa- 
lem with  a  caravan  of  Jewish  merchants,  carrying 
gifts  to  Herod.  She  tells  her  troubles  to  a  young 
astrologer  named  Phanuel,  who  knows  her  parent- 
age, but  for  operatic  reasons  does  not  reveal  it. 
She  declares  she  will  go  back  to  the  Prophet,  who 
had  befriended  her  in  the  desert  and  away  from 
whom,  she  feels,  she  can  no  longer  live. 

As  she  departs,  Herod  comes  on  the  stage. 
Though  he  had  but  caught  a  glimpse  of  Salome, 
he  is  madly  in  love  with  her,  and  feverishly  calls 
upon  her  to  return.  Instead  of  Salome,  Herodias 
comes  in  hastily,  pale  and  excited,  asking  the  King 
to  avenge  her  on  John,  who  had  publicly  insulted 
her,  calling  her  Jezebel.  She  demands  his  head, 
but  Herod  refuses  because  of  John's  popularity 
and  power. 

John  appears  and  again  denounces  her,  till  the 
royal  couple  flee  from  his  maledictions.  Salome 
returns  and  falls  at  John's  feet,  confessing  her 
love  for  him,  and  him  alone.  "The  gloom  of 
my  life  is  not  for  one  so  young  and  beautiful  as 
you,"  he  answers,  "  but  if  love  you  must,  love  me 
as  one  loves  in  a  dream." 

Surrounded  by  Nubian,  Greek,  and  Babylonian 
slave  girls,  Herod  in  vain  seeks  distraction  in  their 
songs  and  dances,  from  the  one  thought  which 


FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS       105 

haunts  him,  the  thought  of  Salome.  A  love-potion 
gives  him  a  vision  of  her,  vivid  as  reality,  and  he 
raves  deliriously  till  he  sinks  exhausted  on  his 
couch.  This  scene  inspired  the  famous  Vision 
fugitive,  which  is  as  beautiful  hi  its  way  as  Sa- 
lome's exquisite  aria.  [Phanuel  enters  and  chides 
him  for  lying  there,  filled  with  delirious  thoughts 
of  a  woman  when  all  about  there  is  danger  of  re- 
volt and  bloodshed.  "  The  people  tremble  before 
you,  but  it  is  John  they  acclaim."  Herod  an- 
swers boastfully  he  will  first  chase  away  the 
Romans  and  then  get  rid  of  the  prophet.]  Mean- 
while, in  the  great  square  at  Jerusalem,  command- 
ing a  view  of  Solomon's  Temple  on  Mount  Moriah, 
are  assembled  priests,  sailors,  soldiers,  merchants, 
and  Arabian  envoys  and  chieftains  to  greet  Herod, 
and  to  promise  their  support  hi  a  holy  war  against 
the  Romans;  but  when,  presently,  fanfares  are 
heard,  and  the  Romans,  Vitellius  at  their  head, 
come  marching  into  the  square,  all  avert  their 
eyes  and  try  to  conceal  their  feelings.  Vitellius 
is  conciliatory,  and  makes  promises  of  reforms, 
which  are  acclaimed. 

At  night  Herodias,  whose  jealousy  has  been 
aroused  by  the  King's  infatuation  for  Salome, 
visits  Phanuel  and  begs  him  to  read  in  the  stars 
her  fate  and  that  of  her  rival.  He  tells  her  he  has 
often  seen  her  star  obscured  by  another  star. 


io6     MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

Even  now  there  is  one — but  it  disappears.  "  Yours 
alone  remains — ah!  and  blood-stained  it  looks." 
Then  he  takes  her  to  an  opening  at  the  back  of 
his  room  and  shows  her  a  woman  approaching 
the  temple:  "Your  child,  there,  see!  entering 
the  temple!"  But  with  a  cry  of  rage  Herodias 
retorts:  "She!  my  rival!  no,  no,  my  daughter 
is  dead."  "You  are  but  a  woman — a  mother, 
never,"  replies  the  astrologer. 

Festal  songs  fill  the  air  the  following  day  as 
Salome  enters  the  Temple,  scarcely  able  to  stand. 
John,  she  knows,  has  been  seized  and  put  in 
chains.  "Assassins!"  she  exclaims;  "if  he  must 
die,  I  will  die,  too."  Herod  enters,  recognizes 
her,  and  offers  her  his  love,  but  she  repulses  him 
with  horror:  "I  love  another,  who  is  mightier 
than  Caesar,  stronger  than  any  hero!"  "You 
shall  both  be  delivered  into  the  hands  of  the 
executioner!"  is  the  King's  threat. 

The  people  are  now  coming  into  the  Temple. 
The  Holy  of  Holies  is  revealed;  there  is  a  sacred 
dance.  John  is  led  in  by  the  guards.  The 
priests  and  Herodias  demand  his  death,  but 
Herod  refuses  until  suddenly  Salome  comes  and 
throws  herself  at  John's  feet,  asking  to  share  his 
fate;  whereupon  both  are  condemned. 

We  see  John  next  in  a  dungeon  in  the  Temple. 
Salome  appears,  and  for  a  moment  the  prophet 


FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS      107 

falters,  thinks  he  may  breathe  the  perfume  of  this 
flower,  to  murmur:  "I  love  you";  but  voices 
are  heard  shouting,  "Death  to  the  prophet!" 
and  he  bids  her  flee  the  dungeon.  But  she  de- 
clares she  will  die  with  him,  and  as  he  clasps  her 
in  his  arms  priests  and  slaves  appear  to  take  him 
to  his  execution,  and  her  to  the  palace,  by  order 
of  the  King. 

In  the  last  scene,  which  is  hi  the  palace  of 
Vitellius,  Salome  breaks  away  from  the  slaves 
and  implores  Herodias  to  save  John.  Herodias 
seems  on  the  point  of  yielding  when  the  execu- 
tioner is  seen  in  the  background  with  a  blood- 
stained sword.  With  the  words :  "  He  is  slain 
by  your  hands!  You  shall  die,  too!"  Salome 
draws  a  dagger  and  throws  herself  at  Herodias, 
who  cries  in  terror:  "Have  pity!  I  am  your 
mother!"  "Then  take  back  your  blood  and  my 
life,"  exclaims  Salome,  thrusting  the  dagger  into 
her  own  heart. 

Whatever  one  may  think  of  such  a  story  it 
cannot  be  denied  that  to  the  purposes  of  spectacu- 
lar opera  it  is  excellently  suited.  The  average 
opera-goer — and  it  is  for  him  that  opera  is  given 
chiefly — likes  to  see  scenic  backgrounds  of  historic 
interest,  processions,  and  dances,  and  hear  love 
airs  and  duos,  and  pleasing  instrumental  inter- 
ludes; and  of  such  is  Massenet's  opera  com- 


io8    MASSENET  AND   HIS   OPERAS 

pounded.  And  it  must  be  said  that  Mr.  Hammer- 
stein,  and  his  stage-manager,  Mr.  Coini,  and  the 
scene  painters  once  more  distinguished  themselves 
in  the  staging  of  these  operatic  splendours.  The 
pageantry  of  the  last  act  was  equal  to  the  most 
spectacular  scene  in  Aida  which  was  obviously 
Massenet's  model;  and  the  various  dances  of 
slaves  from  Egypt,  Babylon,  Gaul,  and  Phenicia 
were  picturesquely  varied. 

Herodiade  is  more  in  the  style  of  grand  opera 
than  most  of  Massenet's  other  works,  and  among 
its  musical  numbers  there  are  some  gems.  The 
tribal  dissensions  in  the  first  scene  may  be  less 
realistic  than  the  altercations  of  the  Jews  in 
Strauss' s  Salome,  but  they  are  more  musical; 
and  after  all,  in  an  opera,  it  is  better  that  the 
realism  should  suffer  than  the  music.  Realistic 
as  well  as  musical  is  the  wonderful  air  of  Salome 
in  this  same  scene — the  "II  est  doux,  il  est  bon," 
which  thousands  have  sung  and  enjoyed  who, 
not  knowing  even  the  name  of  the  opera,  supposed 
it  to  be  simply  one  of  the  most  exquisitely  melo- 
dious and  tender  songs  ever  written  in  France  or 
elsewhere. 

There  was  a  time  when  a  single  air  like  this 
could  win  success  for  an  opera.  We  demand 
more,  and  fortunately  there  is  more — much  more 
Herodiade.  There  are  some,  indeed,  who 


FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS      109 

think  that,  on  the  whole,  this  opera  has  greater 
musical  interest  even  than  Thais;  and  though  it 
is  a  much  less  mature  work,  having  been  com- 
posed as  long  ago  as  1878,  it  betrays  an  inborn 
power  for  suiting  music  dramatically  to  the  text. 
There  are  not  a  few  numbers  like  "Ce  que  je 
veux"  in  the  first  act  in  which  there  is  plus  de 
volonte  que  d1  inspiration;  yet  the  final  ensemble 
of  this  scene  is  very  effective. 

That  Massenet  was  a  young  man  when  he 
wrote  this  music  is  obvious  from  various  echoes 
of  the  masters  he  most  admired.  First  among 
these  was  Wagner.  In  the  second  act,  Herod's 
drinking  of  the  love  philter,  and  casting  away  of 
the  cup,  suggested  almost  inevitably  some  vague 
Tristan  strains.  The  trumpet  fanfares,  announc- 
ing the  coming  of  the  Romans,  are  decidedly 
Lohengrinish  ;  and  the  second  act  of  the  same 
opera  is  vividly  recalled  by  the  music  Massenet 
wrote  for  the  seventh  scene  of  his  second  act,  when 
John  and  Salome  appear,  followed  by  the  Ca- 
naanite  women.  There  are  splendidly  con- 
structed choruses  in  this  scene,  and  the  finale  is 
grandly  impressive. 

The  scene  between  Herod  and  Phanuel,  placed 
within  brackets  in  the  preceding  synopsis,  was 
omitted  in  New  York  in  accordance  with  Mas- 
senet's own  directions,  who  felt  that  it  was  too 


I io    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

political  for  opera.  On  the  other  hand,  the  com- 
poser added,  when  the  opera  was  produced  in 
Paris,  the  episode  in  which  Phanuel  consults 
the  planets  for  the  Queen;  and  this,  therefore, 
represents  a  later  phase  of  his  development;  yet 
it  is  one  of  the  less  interesting  parts  of  the  opera. 
The  march  of  scene  eleven  is  stirring,  and  ad- 
mirable also  is  the  responsive  chorus,  "  Schemah 
Israel!  Adonai  Eloheinou."  Nothing  could  be 
more  dainty  and  charming  than  the  dance  of  the 
daughters  of  Menahim,  accompanied  by  the  soft, 
pretty  tinkling  of  the  sistrums.  Most  pleasing 
also  are  the  several  dances  in  the  last  act.  No 
one  will  be  annoyed  because  the  dungeon  scene 
and  the  gorgeous  spectacle  on  the  stage,  with  brass 
band  and  all,  suggest  Aida.  It  is  only  a  sug- 
gestion, Massenet  holds  his  own,  and  brings  the 
opera  to  a  brilliant  close. 

The  New  York  cast  included  in  the  principal 
parts,  Lina  Cavalieri,  Mme.  Gerville-Re'ache, 
Charles  Dalmores,  and  Maurice  Renaud:  an 
excellent  ensemble  in  which  the  baritone,  however, 
was  most  conspicuous. 

If  Massenet  had  written  Herodiade  to  order 
for  Renaud  he  would  no  doubt  have  given  him 
the  r61e  of  John  the  Baptist,  which  suggests 
Athanael  faintly,  but  it  is  as  well  that  he  did  not 
do  so,  since  Renaud  might  perhaps  have  found 


Copyright  by  Davis  <t  Efckemeyer 

LINA  CAVALIERI  AS  SALOME  IN   "HERODIADE' 


FIVE   MANHATTAN  OPERAS      in 

a  second  Athanael  rather  monotonous,  and  the 
part  of  Herod  gave  him  different  possibilities  to 
work  with.  Herod  calls  himself  the  chief  of  a 
tribe,  but  he  looks  every  inch  a  Caesar,  command- 
ing, tyrannical,  superb;  and  yet  the  fragile 
Salome  repulses  him,  holds  him  off  through  her 
purity  and  her  love  for  another  man.  Renaud 
was  intensely  the  lover,  but  still  more  intensely 
the  tyrant,  even  when  he  pleaded  for  Salome's 
love.  Over  all  this  is  thrown  the  delicate  sug- 
gestion of  mental  and  bodily  ailing,  not  ex- 
treme, never  repulsive,  but  always  present,  a 
prophecy  of  future  destruction.  The  audience 
was  absorbed  by  the  expression  of  that  wonderful 
face,  from  his  first  look  of  love  for  Salome, 
the  indescribable  boredom  which  follows  when 
Herodias  appears,  the  almost  insane  ecstasy  of 
his  vision  after  drinking  the  potion,  his  baffled 
passion  and  jealousy  when  he  discovers  Salome's 
love  for  John,  and  a  thousand  others,  the  climax 
being  his  despair  as  he  clasps  the  dead  Salome 
in  his  arms.  His  voice  fitted  his  ideal  of  the  part. 
It  has  been  stated  that  Herodiade  was  originally 
intended  for  an  Italian  audience;  that  it  was  the 
Milanese  publisher,  Ricordi,  who,  after  reading 
Gustave  Flaubert's  novelette,  Htrodias,  asked 
Massenet  to  write  an  opera  on  this  subject;  that 
difficulties  in  making  up  a  satisfactory  cast  caused 


ii2     MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

the  composer,  however,  to  offer  his  opera  to  the 
Theatre  de  la  Monnaie  in  Brussels. 

Quite  a  different  story  is  told  by  Louis 
Schneider,  who  got  it  from  the  librettist,  Paul 
Milliet.  According  to  this  version  it  was  Mas- 
senet's Parisian  publisher,  Georges  Hartmann,  who 
suggested  the  use  of  Flaubert's  tale  for  operatic 
purposes  and  asked  Milliet  to  write  the  "book." 
When  it  was  completed,  he  joined  Massenet  and 
Hartmann  in  an  excursion  to  Milan,  where 
Massenet's  Le  Roi  de  Lahore  was  about  to  be 
produced  at  the  Scala,  with  the  eminent  French 
baritone,  Lassalle.  One  of  their  objects  in  visit- 
ing Milan  was  to  read  the  new  Herodiade  libretto 
to  the  publisher,  Ricordi,  who  ruled  the  destinies 
of  the  Scala.  Ricordi  liked  it,  and  promised  to 
produce  its  musical  setting  in  Milan  simulta- 
neously with  its  first  performance  in  Paris.  For 
this  purpose  he  had  it  translated  into  Italian  by 
a  man  named  Zamadini,  whose  name  is  printed 
as  one  of  the  three  librettists.  The  other  name, 
Grdmont  is  a  pseudonym  of  Hartmann. 

It  took  the  composer  two  years  and  a  half  to 
write  the  score.  When  it  was  completed,  in  1880, 
he  offered  it  to  Vacorbeil,  the  director  of  the  Paris 
Ope"ra,  who,  however,  was  too  busy  with  Gounod's 
TribtU  de  Zamora  and  Ambroise  Thomas's 
Franfoise  de  Rimini  to  care  for  it  at  that  time. 


Photograph  by  Paul  Berger,  farts 

RENAUD  AS  HEROD 


FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS      113 

Massenet  did  not  wish  to  wait,  so  he  accepted  an 
offer  from  the  managers  of  the  Brussels  Opera 
to  produce  it  at  once.  It  was  staged  and  re- 
hearsed in  a  short  time,  and  when  the  day  of  the 
premiere  came,  so  many  Parisians — more  than 
four  hundred — travelled  to  Brussels  that  the 
train  had  to  be  despatched  in  two  sections. 

The  performance  was  a  brilliant  success, 
and  the  composer  got  an  ovation  such  as  the 
oldest  Belgians  did  not  remember  at  the  Theatre 
de  la  Monnaie.  The  date  was  December  17, 
1881. 

It  took  H&rodiade  three  years  to  reach  Paris. 
There  it  was  produced  on  February  i,  1884,  with 
Jean  de  Reszke  as  Jean,  Edouard  de  Reszke  as 
Phanuel,  Victor  Maurel  as  Hdrode,  Tremelli  as 
HeYodiade,  Fides-Devries  as  Salome,  Villani  as 
Vitellius.  At  the  twentieth  performance  there 
were  three  De  Reszkes  on  the  bill — Josephine  as 
Salome,  besides  the  two  brothers.  These  represen- 
tations were  given  in  Italian,  at  the  Thdatre- 
Italien.  When  the  opera  was  revived  in  1903, 
at  the  Theatre  de  la  Gaite*,  Emma  Calve  ap- 
peared for  the  first  time  as  Salome,  and  Maurice 
Renaud  as  Hdrode.* 

*  Hamburg  heard  Hfrodiade  in  1883,  under  the  composer's 
own  direction,  the  cast  including  Rosa  Sucher,  Krauss,  and 
Hermann  Winkdmann. 
8 


ii4    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

The  first  French  city  to  hear  the  opera  was 
Nantes.  Here,  too,  the  composer  got  an  ovation, 
followed  by  an  orchestral  serenade.  A  garland 
of  gold  was  handed  to  him  with  the  inscription: 
"To  Massenet,  from  the  vocal  artists  and  the 
orchestra — Nantes,  March  29,  1883."  In  re- 
sponse to  an  address,  Massenet  said:  "I  wrote 
Htrodiade  in  the  hope  of  seeing  it  performed  in 
Paris.  Brussels,  Hamburg,  Milan  have  so  far 
received  it  hospitably.  I  am  also  glad  to  see 
my  work  return  to  France  and  have  its  first  per- 
formance therein  at  Nantes.  I  hope  Paris  will 
be  willing  some  day  to  indorse  the  applause  you 
have  lavished  on  it  this  evening,  and  for  which 
I  am  sincerely  grateful  to  you." 

As  compared  with  the  Salome  of  Oscar  Wilde 
and  Richard  Strauss,  Herodiade  seems  absolutely 
innocuous;  but  Salome  did  not  exist  for  com- 
parison at  that  time,  and  so  Saint-Saens,  in  writing 
about  Herodiade  in  the  Voltaire,  in  1881,  referred 
to  "ce  type  e*trange  de  pubertd  lascive  et  d'in- 
consciente  cruaute'  qui  a  nom  Salome",  fleur  de 
mal  dclose  dans  1' ombre  du  temple,  dnigmatique 
et  f ascinatrice ! "  And  when  the  opera  was 
produced  at  Lyons,  shortly  after  Nantes,  the 
Archbishop,  Cardinal  Caverot  was  so  scan- 
dalized that  he  called  the  Pope's  attention  to 
this  sacrilegious  work  and  succeeded  in  obtaining 


FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS      115 

the  minor  excommunication  of  Massenet  and 
Milliet.  Thanks  to  this — and  its  merits — 
Herodiade  had  half  a  hundred  performances  in 
one  season. 

Victor  Maurel  *  was  the  director  of  the  The"atre- 
Italien  as  well  as  the  Hdrode  in  the  cast  when 
this  opera  had  its  Parisian  premiere  in  1884,  so 
that  he  was  able  to  produce  the  opera  in  accord- 
ance with  his  own  ideas  of  stage  management. 
In  a  conversation  I  had  with  him  in  1910,  he 
referred  to  this  opera  as  Massenet's  Aida,  Verdi's 
master-work  having  evidently  stood  model  for  it. 
He  looked  most  picturesque  as  he  described — 
and  more  or  less  acted — HeYode's  part,  particu- 
larly his  great  longing.  In  the  Vision  Fugitive 
scene  he  had  the  stage  made  very  dark, 
he  said,  the  lights  being  distributed  so  as  to 
emphasize  the  gloom;  and  the  slave  girls  were 
grouped  as  if  they  formed  part  of  the  stage  decora- 
tions, rather  than  with  any  idea  of  ballet  or 
beautifying  effect. 

Concerning  Jean  de  Reszke,  who  was  then  at 
the  beginning  of  his  career,  M.  Maurel  also 
told  me  some  interesting  details.  He  himself 

*  Concerning  M.  Maurel's  importance  in  the  development 
of  musico-dramatic  art  (he  was  the  favorite  of  Verdi  in  his 
ripest  period)  see  the  pages  on  him  in  my  Success  in  Music 
and  How  it  is  Won. 


n6     MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

foresaw  the  Polish  tenor's  future  greatness,  but 
Massenet  did  not,  and  was  with  difficulty  per- 
suaded to  approve  of  his  engagement.  He  tried 
in  every  way  to  make  Maurel  give  him  up,  send- 
ing influential  friends  to  argue  with  him;  but 
Maurel' s  invariable  answer  was  that  if  Herodiade 
was  to  be  given  under  his  direction,  Jean  should 
be  the  Jean  of  the  cast  and  no  one  else.  He  him- 
self was,  however,  somewhat  worried  in  spite  of 
his  faith  in  Jean,  who  gave  the  composer  occasion 
for  a  running  fire  of  criticism  at  the  rehearsals. 
Maurel  explained  to  Jean  that  he  must  learn  to 
hear  himself  in  the  auditorium,  that  he  must 
throw  out  his  voice  into  space;  he  encouraged 
him,  praised  what  was  good,  and  on  the  evening 
of  the  performance  Jean  made  good  in  every  way; 
the  audience  liked  his  voice  and  his  art;  it  was 
charmed  by  his  personality  and  thenceforth  his 
career  was  assured. 

t 

\ 

SAPHO 

When  a  composer  writes  as  many  operas  as 
Massenet  has  written — twenty-two  in  forty-three 
years — one  can  hardly  expect  him  to  be  at  his  best 
in  all  of  them.  Gounod  was  a  true  genius,  but 
of  his  dozen  operas,  only  two  have  survived  him. 
Verdi's  operatic  career  shows  a  curious  inter- 


Copyright  by  Davit  dt  Eickemeyer,  !f.  Y. 


LINA  CAVALIERI  AS  SALOME  IN   "HERODIADE1 
V 


FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS      117 

mingling  of  successes  and  failures,  with  the 
failures  predominating;  and  the  same  may  be 
said  of  Rossini,  Donizetti — in  fact,  of  most  opera 
composers,  a  conspicuous  exception  being  Wagner 
who  struck  twelve — or  at  least  eleven — in  all  of 
his  works,  after  Rienzi. 

Sapho  is  not  one  of  Massenet's  successes.  In 
New  York  it  was  a  complete  failure.  At  its  first 
production  in  Paris  (OpeYa-Comique,  November 
27,  1897),  it  had  a  more  favourable  reception;  yet 
the  composer  seems  to  have  realised  that  its  fate 
was  dependent  on  the  art  and  the  popularity  of 
the  artist  for  whom  he  had  written  the  opera — 
Emma  Calve";  "hors  de  Mile.  Calve",  pas  de 
Sapho  possible,  aux  yeux  du  compositeur,"  wrote 
Adolphe  Jullien;  adding:  "Le  fait  est  que 
c'est  une  vaillante  protagoniste."  But  even  this 
fascinating  artist  could  not  give  Sapho  the  vogue 
of  some  of  the  other  Massenet  operas. 

The  choice  of  a  libretto  based  on  Daudet's 
notorious  novel,  was  a  mistake,  to  begin  with. 
When  Daudet  launched  that  novel,  he  dedicated 
it  "To  my  sons  when  they  are  twenty  years  old." 
They  were  to  learn  from  it  what  a  deplorable 
future  a  young  man  prepares  for  himself  when  he 
enters  into  relations  with  the  demi-monde. 

Sapho  is  an  artist's  model  with  a  past.  She 
ensnares  an  unsophisticated  youth  from  the 


ii8    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

provinces,  Jean  Gaussin,  and  wrecks  his  affection 
in  attempting  to  rise  above  her  former  life. 

The  novelist's  treatment  of  this  theme  has 
literary  merit;  as  a  play  it  has  moments  of  in- 
terest; as  set  to  music  it  is  tiresome. 

Daudet  complimented  the  librettists,  Henri 
Cain  and  Arthur  Bernede,  on  their  arrangement 
which,  he  said,  contained  the  substance  of  his 
book — "livre  tout  entier";  but  the  French  do 
not  always  allow  truthfulness  to  interfere  with 
politeness. 

As  for  Massenet,  he  decidedly  nodded  when  he 
wrote  this  music.  In  vain  one  listens  throughout 
the  evening  for  one  of  those  exquisite  airs  he 
knows  how  to  write  for  the  voice,  or  for  an  en- 
chanting orchestral  interlude  like  the  "Me'dita- 
tion"  in  Thais.  There  are  some  effective, 
passionate  climaxes,  and  the  music  adapts  itself 
to  the  lines  and  the  moods;  in  these  respects,  and 
in  the  subtle  treatment  of  the  orchestra,  Massenet 
is,  as  always,  a  master;  but  there  is  a  lack  of 
inspiration,  and  the  final  outcome  is  oppressive 
monotony. 

The  joys  and  sorrows  of  courtesans  and  their 
companions  do  not  move  a  normal  person's  feel- 
ings deeply,  and  while  one  could  not  but  marvel 
at  the  histrionic  art  Mary  Garden  lavished  on  the 
title  rdle  when  Sapho  had  its  New  York  premiere 


FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS      119 

(on  November  17,  1909),  one  could  not  help 
regretting  that  it  was  not  devoted  to  a  more 
agreeable  subject. 

There  was  a  note  of  coarseness,  also,  in  some 
of  the  early  scenes,  which  one  does  not  necessarily 
associate  with  a  model  who  infatuates  artists. 
One  of  the  critics  remarked  that  "when  she  is 
unmasked  to  her  lover  in  the  second  act,  she 
turns  upon  her  artist  friends  with  the  shrill 
violence  of  a  Billingsgate  fishwife."  But  in  this 
she  seems  to  have  followed  traditions;  for 
Adolphe  Jullien,  in  his  account  of  the  Parisian 
premiere,  wrote:  "Mile.  Emma  Calve",  c'est  le 
cri  ge'ne'ral,  joue  et  chante  avec  une  ardeur 
presque  excessive  le  personnage  de  Sapho,  tres- 
difficile  a  faire  accepter  a  1' Ope'ra-Comique,  en 
passant  de  la  langueur  la  plus  lascive  a  la  violence 
la  plus  grossiere,  par  exemple  quand  elle  injurie 
ses  anciens  amants  qui  viennent  de  devoiler  son 
passe  au  malheureux  Gaussin." 

Emma  Calve' s  associates  at  the  Ope'ra-Comique 
were  Mmes.  Wyns  and  Giraudon,  MM.  Leprestre 
(Jean),  Nohel,  Gresse,  Jacquet,  Dufour.  Mary 
Garden's  associates  at  the  Manhattan  were 
Mmes.  D' Alvarez  and  Villa,  MM.  Dalmores, 
Dufranne,  Huberdeau,  Leroux.  Only  three  per- 
formances were  given  in  New  York.  In  Paris, 
when  Sapho  was  revived  at  the  Ope'ra-Comique, 


lao    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

in  1908,  the  plot  was  strengthened  by  the  inter- 
polation of  an  act  following  Jean's  discovery  of 
Sapho's  character. 

GRIS£LIDIS 

Oscar  Hammerstein,  who  proved  that  it  pays 
to  produce  new  operas  in  New  York,  provided 
you  choose  the  right  operas  and  give  them  in  the 
right  way,  gave  the  patrons  of  the  Manhattan  an 
opportunity,  on  January  19,  1910,  to  witness  the 
first  production  in  America  of  Massenet's  Griseli- 
dis.  He  was  so  fortunate  as  to  be  able  to  avail 
himself  of  the  services  of  two  of  the  singers,  MM. 
Dufranne  and  Huberdeau,  who  appeared  at  the 
original  production  of  this  opera  in  Paris  on 
November  20,  1901.  He  was  more  fortunate  still 
in  having  Mary  Garden  to  impersonate  the  title 
r61e,  and  Charles  Dalmores,  a  tenor  with  brains 
as  well  as  a  voice,  in  the  part  of  Alain,  the 
shepherd. 

Of  the  Massenet  operas  known  in  New  York, 
none  became  more  popular  than  The  Juggler  of 
Notre  Dame,  the  opera  which  immediately  pre- 
ceded Griselidis.  Its  vogue  was,  of  course,  due 
largely  to  the  entrancing  art  of  Mary  Garden  and 
Maurice  Renaud;  but  Massenet's  music  is  not 
to  be  overlooked,  nor  the  story  the  opera  is  based 


FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS      121 

on — the  mediaeval  miracle-play,  in  which  the 
image  of  the  Virgin  comes  to  life  and  blesses  the 
humble  juggler. 

Miracle-plays  of  a  primitive  sort  were  much  in 
vogue  in  the  middle  ages,  beginning  with  the 
eighth  century.  They  were  at  first  given  in  the 
churches,  but  became  so  popular  that  these  could 
no  longer  hold  the  spectators;  wherefore  they 
were  played  in  the  market-places  and  cemeteries. 
The  number  of  actors  in  them  rose  at  times  to  a 
hundred  or  more.  In  course  of  time  the  worldly 
element  in  them  became  more  and  more  promi- 
nent, and  there  was  much  buffoonery;  the  devil, 
for  instance,  being  introduced  as  one  of  the 
characters,  and  treated  as  a  sort  of  clown  or  scape- 
goat. Sometimes  there  were  as  many  as  four 
devils  on  the  stage,  with  tails,  horns,  and  other 
satanic  attributes.  Nor  did  the  priests  seem  to 
object  to  such  buffoonery  in  religious  places.  On 
the  contrary,  they  sometimes  took  a  prominent 
part  in  it;  for  instance,  in  what  was  known  as  the 
Feast  of  Asses,  in  commemoration  of  the  flight 
of  Joseph  and  Mary  from  Egypt.  A  beautiful 
maiden  with  a  child  in  her  arms  was  placed  on  a 
donkey  and  taken  into  church,  where  a  priest 
intoned  a  song  and  then  brayed  like  a  burro. 
The  congregation  then  took  up  this  heehaw,  re- 
peating it  enthusiastically. 


122     MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

Gristlidis  is  of  the  order  of  these  mediaeval 
miracle-plays,  in  which  things  mundane,  celestial, 
and  diabolical  are  commingled  quaintly  and  con- 
tinuously. Riemann,  in  his  Opern-Handbuch, 
refers  to  more  than  a  dozen  operas  based  on  the 
story  of  Griselda,  the  beautiful  peasant  girl,  who 
is  put  to  such  cruel  tests  of  her  fidelity — a  story 
first  told  by  Boccaccio.  Massenet's  librettists, 
Armand  Silvestre  and  Eugene  Morand,  treated 
the  tale  freely,  colouring  it  after  the  manner  of 
fourteenth-century  mysteries,  and  thus  providing 
Massenet  an  opportunity  to  indulge  his  mystic 
proclivities. 

In  the  prologue  to  his  opera,  everything  is 
mystic  and  mysterious.  The  scene  is  supposed 
to  be  in  southern  France,  but  the  forest,  with  its 
slender  trees  and  its  pond  adorned  with  large 
water-lilies,  suggests  a  remote,  semi-tropical 
region.  The  shepherd  Alain  sings  his  love  of 
Grise'lidis  with  pastoral  passionateness.  That 
maiden  is  shrouded  in  an  air  of  mystery,  like 
Me*lisande;  who  she  is,  whence  she  came,  the 
spectator  knows  no  more  than  Elsa  knew  about 
the  identity  of  Lohengrin.  The  Marquis  de 
Saluces  catches  a  glimpse  of  her  as  she  moves  in 
the  forest  gloom.  She  is  the  angel  of  his  dreams; 
she  must  be  his  wife.  And  she,  coming  forward, 
meekly  accepts  his  offer:  it  is  the  will  of  God. 


FIVE  MANHATTAN   OPERAS      123 

So  he  takes  her  away  to  be  his  bride,  and  poor 
Alain  remains  alone  to  utter  his  despair. 

After  a  few  years  of  happy  married  life  the 
Marquis  is  summoned  to  war  against  the  Saracens. 
He  has  no  fear  for  his  wife  and  their  son;  but  the 
prior  suggests  the  wisdom  of  not  letting  them  stir 
from  the  gates  during  his  absence.  He  resents 
this;  so  great  is  his  confidence  in  Grise'lidis  that 
should  the  Devil  himself  appear,  he  would  reiter- 
ate his  belief  in  the  fidelity  and  obedience  of  his 
wife.  The  Devil  does  appear  at  this  very  moment ; 
he  comes  hi  through  the  window — the  real  horned 
Devil  of  the  miracle-plays,  wearing  in  the  first 
scene  a  hide  so  cut  that  it  gives  the  semblance  of 
a  tail.  The  prior  is  alarmed  at  this  intrusion,  but 
the  Marquis  defies  the  fiend  to  do  his  worst,  and 
gives  him  his  wedding  ring  as  a  pledge,  feeling 
sure  that  nothing  can  swerve  Grise'lidis. 

The  Devil  has  troubles  of  his  own.  He  has  a 
wife,  Fiamina,  who  is  coquettish  and  wicked,  and 
who,  in  the  next  scene,  gives  an  exhibition  of  her 
temper.  She  consents,  however,  to  co-operate 
with  her  spouse  to  win  the  wager  with  the  Marquis. 
Disguised  as  a  Byzantine  merchant  and  a  Persian 
slave  girl,  they  call  on  Grise'lidis.  The  slave  girl, 
the  Devil  tells  her,  has  been  sent  by  the  Marquis 
(whose  ring  he  shows),  to  be  installed  in  her  place. 
Meekly  Grise'lidis  obeys,  and  the  Devil  is  foiled 


i24     MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

for  the  moment;  but  he  has  stronger  agencies 
at  his  command.  In  the  sombre  woods,  making 
cabalistic  signs,  he  summons  the  spirits  of  evil  to 
bring  the  shepherd  Alain  into  the  garden  to  make 
love  to  GriseUidis.  She  seems  on  the  point  of 
yielding  when  her  son  comes  and  saves  her.  The 
Devil,  enraged,  carries  off  the  boy. 

Later  he  reappears  in  her  oratory  and  tells  her 
that  a  pirate  has  her  son,  who  will  be  hanged  or 
sold  as  a  slave  unless  she  gives  the  pirate  a  kiss 
to  release  him.  Seizing  a  dagger  she  starts  for 
the  ship.  At  this  moment  the  Marquis  has  re- 
turned from  the  Holy  Land.  The  Devil  points  at 
his  wife  hurrying  toward  the  ship,  but  the  Marquis 
disbelieves  his  insinuations.  Griselidis  returns, 
there  is  a  tender  reunion,  but  she  has  not  found 
the  boy.  He  is  restored  by  a  miracle.  The 
triptych  in  the  oratory  opens,  and  there,  in  front  of 
the  saintly  image,  flooded  with  light,  is  the  child. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  some  of  the  details  of 
the  last  part  of  this  story  are  as  artificial  and  foolish 
as  the  old  Greek  romances  of  Heliodorus  and 
Longus,  of  which  they  are  an  echo.  But  that  does 
not  prevent  the  story  from  being,  on  the  whole, 
admirably  adapted  to  operatic  purposes.  It 
takes  us  into  those  supernatural  realms  which 
Wagner  tried  so  hard  to  prove  are  the  only  proper 
ones  for  the  music  drama.  Massenet  has  shown 


FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS      125 

in  his  Thais  and  his  Manon  that  ancient  and 
modern  romances  without  supernatural  occur- 
rences also  lend  themselves  well  to  his  music; 
yet  there  is  a  unique  charm  about  his  mediaeval 
miracle-operas. 

There  are  not  a  few  dull  moments  in  Griselidis, 
as  in  most  operas;  but  these  are  atoned  for  by  the 
more  inspired  episodes,  and  there  are  scenes  that 
must  interest  the  most  blase"  opera-goer.  The 
miracle  in  the  oratory  is  a  splendid  operatic  climax. 
The  audience  was  also  pleased  particularly  with 
the  invocation  scene,  which  was  probably  sug- 
gested by  Berlioz's  Damnation  of  Faust,  but  is 
different,  and  even  more  impressive.  As  the 
Devil,  in  the  forest,  summons  the  evil  spirits,  they 
appear  in  mysterious  gloom,  their  garments  now 
dark,  now  glowing  hi  various  electric  colours. 

Musically,  this  episode  is  one  of  Massenet's 
masterpieces.  Each  line  of  the  Devil's  incanta- 
tion is  answered  by  an  unseen  choir,  echoing  it  in 
varied,  lovely  harmonies.  It  is  an  original  conceit, 
this  echo  is,  and  the  composer  has  made  the  most 
of  it.  It  is  a  peculiarity  of  this  opera,  by  the 
way,  that,  while  the  chorus  supplies  some  of  the 
most  beautiful  music,  it  is  always  invisible.  The 
least  interesting  part  of  the  opera  is  the  first  act; 
the  leave-taking  is  frankly  tiresome,  till  the  trum- 
pet fanfares  summon  to  war.  Apart  from  the 


126    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

choral  strains  in  the  several  acts,  the  best  music  is 
in  the  last  part.  There  are  no  numbers  similar  to 
the  two  popular  airs  in  Herodiade  that  are  likely 
to  be  sung  in  concert  halls;  but  there  is  much 
exquisite  detail  in  the  voice  parts,  and  more  still 
in  the  orchestral  score,  which,  moreover,  always 
preserves  the  mood  and  atmosphere  of  the  play 
in  the  most  artistic  manner.  A  French  critic 
compares  the  score  to  Venetian  glass.  It  is,  says 
M.  Schneider,  "une  partition  diaphane  comme 
ces  verres  de  Venise  dont  la  coloration  a  Pair  de 
larmes  pleure'es  le  long  de  leurs  contours." 

The  name  given  to  this  opera  on  the  score  is 
"Conte  Lyrique  en  Trois  Actes,  Avec  un  Pro- 
logue." 

Opera-goers  of  the  fashionable  persuasion  bear 
Verdi  a  grudge  because  the  best  tenor  air  in  Aida 
occurs  shortly  after  the  opera  opens,  and  before 
they  are  in  their  seats.  Griselidis  resembles  Aida 
from  that  point  of  view.  M.  Dalmores,  as  Alain, 
opened  it  with  "Ouvrez-vous  sur  mon  front," 
the  most  sustained  and  impassioned  melody  in 
the  whole  opera.  He  sang  it  splendidly,  and 
also  made  a  vivid  impression  in  the  temptation 
scene  in  the  garden.  M.  Dufranne  was  more 
satisfactory  as  the  Marquis  than  he  has  been  in 
any  other  r61e,  while  M.  Huberdeau  who,  in 
Paris,  had  sung  the  minor  part  of  Gondebaud, 


Copyright  by  Mishkin  Studio,  Jf.  Y. 

MARY  GARDEN  AS  THAIS 


FIVE  MANHATTAN  OPERAS      127 

was  at  the  New  York  performances  advanced  to 
the  dignity  of  being  Le  Diable  himself — a  pictu- 
resque, good-natured  sort  of  a  devil,  on  the 
whole,  as  the  story  wants  him.  The  minor  parts 
were  impersonated  by  Mmes.  Walter- Villa  and 
Duchene,  MM.  Villa  and  Scott. 

Mary  Garden,  as  a  matter  of  course,  was  the 
centre  of  attraction.  It  seems  hardly  credible 
that  the  same  woman  who  acted  Sapho  with  such 
coarse  abandon  should  be,  in  mien  and  every 
gesture,  the  demure,  obedient,  chaste,  domestic, 
adoring  wife  and  mother  of  this  play.  In  the 
prologue,  in  particular,  she  gave  the  part  a  shad- 
owy, evanescent,  unworldly  aspect  which  was 
pleasing,  even  though  it  may  have  differed  from 
the  conception  of  the  librettists  and  the  poet. 
Vocally,  Miss  Garden  was  at  her  best.  Mr.  De 
laFuente  conducted. 

At  the  premiere  in  Paris — at  the  OpeVa- 
Comique — Andre*  Messager  was  the  conductor, 
and  the  cast: 

Le  Diable MM.  Fugere.v 

Alain Mare*chal. 

Le  Marquis Dufranne. 

Le  Prieur Jacquin. 

Gondebaud Huberdeau. 

GriseTidis Mmes.  Lucienne  Bre"vaJ, 

Fiamina Tiphaine 

Bertrade Daffetye. 

Loys La  Petite  Suzanne. 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN 
OPERAS 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS 

MANON 

FOR  generations,  one  of  the  favourite  story 
books  of  the  French  people  was  the  His- 
toire  de  Manon  Lescaut  et  du  Chevalier  Des 
Grieux,  by  the  Abb£  Prevost  d' Exiles,  who  died  in 
1763.  Three  of  the  most  eminent  French  compos- 
ers, besides  the  Irish  Balfe  (1836)  and  the  Italian 
Puccini,  wrote  music  for  it.  In  1830,  HaleVy  made 
it  the  basis  of  a  ballet  for  the  Paris  Opdra. 
Twenty-six  years  later  Auber,  then  in  his  seventy- 
fourth  year,  brought  out  a  Manon  Lescaut  opera, 
which  had  considerable  success  in  Paris  and  was 
admired  greatly,  among  others  by  Charles  Dick- 
ens, especially  because  of  its  "laughing  song," 
"C'est  Phistoire  amoureuse." 

It  remained  for  Massenet,  however,  to  produce 
an  opera  which  had  sufficient  charm  to  make  its 
way  to  other  countries  and  which  was  destined 
to  be  generally  acclaimed  as  a  master-work  of 


i32     MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

its  kind.  His  Manon  had  its  first  performance 
at  the  Ope"ra-Comique  in  Paris  on  January  19, 
1884,  and  it  cannot  be  said  that  Puccini's  Manon 
Lescaut,  which  was  given  to  the  world  nine  years 
later,  has  ousted  it  from  the  first  place,  musically 
speaking. 

Dumas  had  the  Abbe'  Prevost's  story  in  mind 
when  he  wrote  his  Dame  aux  Camelias,  the 
popular  play,  which  served  as  a  basis  for  Verdi's 
La  Traviata.  Manon  is  the  same  kind  of  a  girl 
as  Violetta  in  that  opera — shallow,  fickle,  pleasure- 
loving,  vain,  absolutely  without  conscience  or 
moral  principles.  Her  family,  having  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  best  place  for  her  would 
be  a  convent,  are  sending  her  to  one  in  charge  of 
her  cousin,  Lescaut,  a  guardsman.  She  arrives 
by  stage  at  an  inn  at  Amiens,  where  she  witnesses 
in  a  pavilion  three  elegantly  attired  girls  feasting 
with  several  men,  among  them  the  wealthy  de 
Br£tigny.  The  sight  impresses  her  greatly. 
"How  delightful  it  must  be  to  spend  your  whole 
life  in  pleasure!"  she  exclaims,  as  she  thinks 
ruefully  of  the  convent  she  is  destined  for. 

Hardly  has  she  uttered  these  words  when  she 
perceives  a  handsome  young  man  approaching. 
He  sees  and  promptly  addresses  her,  asks  her 
name,  and  declares  his  love  at  first  sight.  She 
tells  him  she  is  not  wicked,  but  has  been  told 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS     133 

often  at  home  that  she  loves  pleasure  too  much 
and  is  therefore  being  sent  to  a  convent.  He 
cannot  believe  that  so  much  beauty  is  to  be  buried 
alive,  and  passionately  offers  to  rescue  her. 
The  opportunity  presents  itself  at  that  very 
moment;  the  carriage  belonging  to  one  of  the 
revellers — who  had  tried  to  make  love  to  Manon — 
is  ready  to  depart.  "Let  us  get  revenge  by 
escaping  in  it,"  she  herself  suggests,  and  promptly 
the  elopement  is  effected. 

The  lover  is  the  Chevalier  Des  Grieux.  He 
takes  Manon  to  his  apartments  in  Paris  in  the 
Rue  Vivienne.  When  the  curtain  rises  on  the 
next  act  she  discovers  him  writing  a  letter.  She 
looks  over  his  shoulder,  and  he  reads  what  he 
has  written.  It  is  a  letter  to  his  father,  in  praise 
of  Manon  and  begging  him  to  give  his  consent 
to  their  marriage.  Getting  up  to  post  the  letter 
he  hears  knocking  and  voices.  Manon' s  cousin 
enters,  followed  by  de  Bre*tigny.  Lescaut  asks 
Des  Grieux  if  he  is  going  to  marry  his  cousin, 
and  Des  Grieux  replies  by  taking  him  aside  to 
show  him  the  letter  he  has  just  written  to  his 
father.  This  gives  de  Brdtigny  a  chance  to 
speak  to  Manon  alone.  He  tells  her  that  her 
lover  will  be  carried  off  that  very  night  by  order 
of  his  father.  "I  shall  prevent  it!"  she  exclaims; 
but  he  answers:  "If  you  do,  poverty  will  be 


i34     MASSENET  AND   HIS   OPERAS 

your  lot;  if  you  do  not,  fortune  awaits  you." 
She  understands,  and  again  her  love  of  pleasure 
carries  the  day.  When  she  is  alone  with  Des 
Grieux  in  the  evening  a  knock  is  heard.  She 
makes  a  feeble  attempt  to  hold  him  back,  but  he 
goes  to  the  door;  the  noise  of  a  struggle  is  heard 
outside.  "My  poor  Chevalier!"  she  exclaims, 
and  the  curtain  closes  on  this  episode  in  her  life. 
In  the  next  act  Manon  is  the  mistress  of  de 
Bre"tigny,  admired  by  all  for  her  rare  beauty— 
"car  par  beaute"  je  suis  reine"  she  has  the  right 
to  sing.  The  scene  is  the  Promenade  of  the  Cours 
la  Reine.  Traders  have  their  booths  under  the 
large  trees  and  to  the  right  there  is  a  dancing 
pavilion  from  which  come  the  strains  of  a  minuet 
now  and  then.  Manon  comes  along  with  de 
Bretigny,  whom  she  leaves  after  a  while  to  buy 
some  trinkets.  At  that  moment  the  father  of 
her  former  lover,  the  Count  des  Grieux,  enters, 
to  the  surprise  of  de  Bretigny,  who  asks  what 
brought  him  to  Paris.  "My  son,  the  Abbe","  he 
replies.  "The  Abbe?"  "Yes,  he  is  at  this 
moment  preaching  at  the  seminary  of  St.  Sulpice, 
where  he  is  on  the  point  of  taking  orders;  and  it 
was  you  who  made  him  change  from  Chevalier 
to  Abbe*  by  terminating  his  love  affair."  After 
seeing  the  fascinating  Manon,  he  adds:  "I  now 
understand  why  you  took  such  an  interest  in  that 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS    135 

affair."  Manon,  finding  out  who  he  is,  takes 
him  aside  and  asks  about  his  son:  "Did  he 
suffer?  Did  he  mention  my  name?"  "His 
tears  were  shed  hi  silence;  he  did  not  speak  ill 
of  you."  "And  then?"  "He  learned  the  lesson 
all  who  are  wise  must  learn — to  forget!"  With 
this  he  bows  and  leaves.  "To  forget!"  echoes 
Manon,  and  promptly  orders  her  astonished 
cousin  to  escort  her  to  the  St.  Sulpice  Seminary. 

In  the  parlor  of  the  Seminary,  at  that  moment, 
some  nuns  and  other  women  are  talking  raptu- 
rously about  the  eloquence  of  the  new  Abb£,  whose 
sermon  they  have  just  heard.  The  Count  des 
Grieux  enters  unobserved,  followed,  after  a 
moment,  by  his  son.  The  two  are  left  alone. 
The  step  about  to  be  taken  by  the  son  is  by  no 
means  according  to  the  wishes  of  the  father,  who 
urges  him  to  reconsider.  "What  do  you  know 
of  this  life  ?  Marry  a  worthy  girl,  raise  a  family — 
heaven  asks  no  more  than  that."  But  the  son's 
mind  is  made  up.  The  world  cannot  tempt 
him — nor  the  thirty  thousand  livres  his  father 
promises  to  send  him.  But  there  is  Manon! 
While  he  is  singing  his  farewell  to  the  world  she 
enters,  following  the  porter,  whom  she  has  feed 
to  let  her  see  the  new  Abbe*. 

In  the  chapel  the  choir  is  heard  chanting  In 
Deo  salutari  meo  as  Des  Grieux  enters,  and,  to 


136    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

his  amazement,  sees  Manon.  "What  are  you 
doing  here?  Begone!"  he  exclaims;  but  she 
remains,  to  recall  the  days  of  their  dalliance,  to 
ask  for  his  forgiveness,  his  pity,  to  press  his  hand, 
to  exclaim  "I  love  you."  "Je  t'aime!"  she  re- 
peats with  growing  ardour.  He  calls  on  heaven  to 
help  him  in  this  moment  of  temptation,  implores 
her  not  to  speak  of  love  in  this  place.  But 
"Je  t'aime!"  she  repeats  and  finally  he  yields: 
"Come,  Manon,"  he  cries,  "  Je  t'aime!" 

A  gambling-house  in  Paris  is  the  scene  of  the 
next  act.  Manon  brings  Des  Grieux.  "All  our 
money  is  gone,"  she  says,  "  but  here  it  is  quickly 
won  back."  He  recoils  at  the  idea  of  gambling; 
but  Lescaut,  who  has  just  been  winning,  urges 
him  on :  "  You  are  wrong  to  refuse ;  Manon  does 
not  love  poverty."  Manon  promises  him  her 
heart,  her  love  forever,  if  he  will  play.  Guillot — 
who  has  been  trying  to  win  Manon  ever  since  that 
first  scene  in  the  Amiens  courtyard — offers  to 
play  with  him,  the  stake  being  a  thousand 
pistoles.  He  loses,  doubles  the  sum,  and  loses 
again,  whereupon  he  accuses  Des  Grieux  of  cheat- 
ing, and  leaves  muttering  threats.  Shortly  after- 
ward knocks  are  heard  and  police  officers  enter, 
with  Guillot,  who  points  out  Des  Grieux  as  the 
party  to  be  arrested,  together  with  Manon,  "his 
accomplice."  The  Count  des  Grieux,  who  has 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS    137 

entered  unobserved,  also  says,  "Take  them 
prisoners!"  then,  turning  to  his  son:  "Later  on, 
I  shall  free  you." 

The  road  to  Havre  is  the  scene  of  the  last  act. 
Under  guard  of  soldiers  Manon  is  being  taken, 
with  other  women  of  her  class,  to  that  port  to  be 
embarked  to  America.  Des  Grieux  is  waiting 
for  her  at  a  lonely  spot.  He  has  planned  her 
rescue  by  engaging  Lescaut,  with  hired  accom- 
plices, to  take  her  forcibly  from  the  soldiers. 
But  Lescaut  comes  and  tells  him  all  is  lost,  for 
his  men  have  fled;  but  he  promises  him  a  chance 
to  speak  with  Manon,  and  draws  him  behind 
some  bushes.  The  soldiers  begin  to  pass,  and 
the  two  men  hear  them  say:  "It  is  no  glory  to 
escort  such  women."  "One  of  them  is  already 
half  dead."  "Her  name  is  Manon."  "Oh, 
heavens!"  groans  Des  Grieux.  Lescaut  gives 
money  to  one  of  the  soldiers  and  Manon  is 
allowed  to  meet  her  former  lover.  She  is  ex- 
hausted with  fatigue,  and,  after  a  scene  of  ecstatic 
reminiscences  and  passionate  outpourings,  dies  in 
his  arms. 

As  it  is  generally  agreed  that  frail  women  are 
more  sinned  against  than  sinners,  and  that,  if 
men  were  what  they  should  be,  these  women, 
also,  would  be  impeccable,  one  cannot  withhold 
some  degree  of  sympathy  for  Manon  in  her  mis- 


138     MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

fortune.  That  Massenet,  with  his  predilection  for 
such  "heroines,"  sympathized  with  her,  in  her 
pleasures  and  sorrows  alike,  it  is  needless  to  say. 
His  music  treats  Manon's  shallow  feelings  as  if  they 
were  as  sincere  as  the  love  of  Des  Grieux  for  her. 

One  suspects  that  it  was  at  his  instigation  that 
his  librettists,  H.  Meilhac  and  Ph.  Gille,  com- 
mitted a  dramatic  blunder  in  order  not  to  alienate 
the  sympathies  of  the  audience.  Prevost  makes 
it  clear  in  his  story  why  Manon  was  deported: 
she  had  been  repeatedly  arrested  for  cheating 
and  stealing.  In  the  opera,  there  is  not  the 
slightest  intimation  of  this,  the  hearer  being  left 
to  suppose  she  is  exiled  from  France  simply  for 
being  a  courtesan  and  for  having  been  accused 
of  being  a  gambler's  accomplice.  The  Chevalier 
also  is  presented  in  a  much  more  favourable  light 
in  the  opera  than  in  the  story. 

The  librettists  must  be  congratulated  on  having 
had  the  good  sense  to  eliminate  the  ridiculous 
"American"  finale  of  Prevost's  story,  and  in 
having  inserted  the  splendidly  operatic  scene  in 
the  Seminary,  which  Scribe  had  overlooked  when 
he  adapted  this  story  for  Auber.  Altogether, 
they  provided  Massenet  with  excellent  oppor- 
tunities for  the  exercise  of  his  facile  pen  and  he 
made  such  good  use  of  them  that  many  consider 
Manon  his  best  opera. 


139 

When  it  was  sung  in  Vienna  in  1890,  in  presence 
of  the  composer,  with  brilliant  success,  the  most 
eminent  critic  of  the  time,  Dr.  Hanslick,  pro- 
nounced it  "the  best  and  most  effective  work 
produced  at  the  Ope"ra-Comique  since  Mignon 
and  Carmen"  "In  his  dances  he  imitated  the 
style  of  Lully  and  Rameau  with  extraordinary 
cleverness,"  he  adds.  Here  and  there  his  music 
shows  the  influence  of  Ambroise  Thomas,  Gounod, 
and  Bizet,  and  from  Wagner  he  learned  how  to 
use  leading  motives  in  a  discreet  and  unobtrusive 
way. 

Hanslick  misses  coherence,  or  form,  in  this 
score:  " it  Consists  entirely  of  details.  .  .  .  The 
most  fascinating  motives  swim  down  stream 
before  our  eyes,  like  roses  cast  singly  into  the 
water.  Seldom  does  he  take  us  into  a  garden, 
large  or  small,  where  we  can  remain  for  a  while." 

Hanslick  was  a  poor  judge  of  form  (he  accused 
Wagner  and  Liszt  of  not  having  any!)  and  he 
did  not  see  that  Massenet  gave  coherence  to  his 
music  by  the  leading  motives  to  which  he  refers. 
When  Manon  sings  her  first  song:  "Je  suis 
encore  tout  £tourdie,"  we  hear  a  charming 
syncopated  melody  which  accompanies  her  on 
subsequent  occasions.  The  Chevalier,  also,  has 
his  characteristic  violoncello-cantilena;  and  these 
are  subjected  to  many  subtle  transformations  as 


I4o     MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

the  play  progresses  psychologically.  In  the  final 
scene,  the  orchesta  follows  the  lovers  in  recalling 
pleasant  episodes  in  their  lives. 

It  is  by  such  devices  that  an  opera  is  raised 
to  the  rank  of  a  music  drama,  with  form — that 
is,  coherence — whereas  the  old-fashioned  opera, 
with  its  mosaic  of  unconnected,  unrecurring  airs, 
has  no  real  form. 

The  episode  in  the  Seminary,  with  its  com- 
mingling of  ecclesiastic  and  amorous  strains,  is 
Massenet  every  inch.  While  Auber  omitted  it, 
one  cannot  but  guess  that  it  was  this  scene  that 
suggested  his  opera  to  Massenet,  who  is  at  his 
very  best  in  it.  The  polyphonic  choruses  in  the 
chapel  once  more  bear  witness  to  his  technical  skill 
and  his  ars  celare  artem.  It  takes  a  Frenchman 
to  be  scholarly  and  popular  at  the  same  time! 

When  Manon  had  its  first  performance  in  Paris, 
Mme.  Heilbronn  impersonated  the  title  r61e, 
Talazak  was  Des  Grieux,  and  Taskin  wasLescaut. 
It  was  sung  seventy-eight  times  in  1884.  In  its 
second  year,  only  ten  performances  of  it  were 
given;  but  soon  it  recovered  lost  ground,  and  on 
October  16, 1893,  it  had  its  two  hundredth  hearing 
at  the  Op^ra-Comique.  The  receipts  for  these 
two  hundred  performances  were  1,164,534  francs. 

An  English  version  was  produced  by  the 
Carl  Rosa  Company,  in  1885. 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS    14! 

Among  the  prima-donnas  who  became  famous 
impersonators  of  Manon  in  France,  England, 
and  America  were  Marie  Rose,  Sybil  San- 
derson, Minnie  Hauk,  and  Geraldine  Farrar. 
In  Vienna  the  two  leading  r61es  were  taken  by 
Renard  and  Van  Dyck. 

The  first  American  performance  was  by  the 
Mapleson  Company  at  the  New  York  Academy 
of  Music  on  December  23,  1885,  with  Minnie 
Hauk  as  Manon,  Giannini  as  Des  Grieux,  Del 
Puente  as  Lescaut.  At  the  Metropolitan  Opera 
House  Sibyl  Sanderson  was  heard  as  Manon 
in  1895,  with  Jean  de  Reszke,  and  Melba  in 
1896  with  the  same  tenor.  Ernest  Van  Dyck's 
Des  Grieux  was  heard  in  1899,  with  Frances 
Savile. 

Caruso  chose  Des  Grieux  for  his  third  French 
rdle  (following  Faust  and  Carmen)  and  he 
made  his  de"but  in  it  at  the  Metropolitan  with 
Geraldine  Farrar  as  Manon  and  Antonio  Scotti 
as  Lescaut.  The  great  Italian  tenor  was  con- 
vincing and  realistic  in  the  portrayal  of  the 
young  nobleman  struggling  for  honour  against 
the  allurements  of  beauty,  his  strongest  moments 
being  in  the  St.  Sulpice  episode. 

Miss  Farrar,  by  her  rare  charm  and  beauty, 
accomplished  the  impossible  in  making  the 
seemingly  idiotic  constancy  of  Des  Grieux  com- 


142     MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

prehensible.  After  seeing  this  dainty  maid, 
looking  demureness  itself,  sitting  under  the  tree 
in  the  Amiens  court-yard — one  of  those  pictures 
which  impress  themselves  indelibly  on  the 
memory  of  all  spectators — who  can  wonder  at 
his  instantaneous  infatuation?  "Ne  suis-je  pas 
Manon?"  from  those  lips  means  more  to  him 
than  family  honour  and  religious  vows.  She 
makes  the  letter  scene  a  charming  episode,  and 
most  touching  is  her  portrayal  of  the  collapse 
and  death  on  the  Havre  road;  dying  on  the 
stage  is  a  specialty  in  which  this  American 
prima-donna  has  no  equal.  Like  Emma  Calve, 
she  acts  with  her  voice — an  accomplishment 
rare  even  among  the  greatest  operatic  artists. 
Like  Edmond  Cldment,  with  whom  she  sang  this 
opera  again  in  the  Metropolitan  on  December  6, 
1909,  she  sings  French  music  with  the  true 
Parisian  idiom.  Nothing  could  be  more  delight- 
fully Gallic  than  the  archness  and  grace  with 
which  she  sings  the  dainty  air  in  honour  of 
youth  and  beauty.  A  foreign  critic  has  referred 
to  Massenet's  opera  as  "a  delicately  perfumed 
score";  this  fragrance  was  exhaled  by  her 
singing. 

If  any  fault  could  be  found  with  her  concep- 
tion of  the  part,  it  would  be  that  she  gave  to  the 
love-scene,  in  which  she  persuades  Des  Grieux  to 


Photograph  by  Georg  G'rlach  &  Co.,  Rfrltn 

GERALDINE  FARRAR  AS  MANON 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS     143 

renounce  the  priesthood,  a  passionate  intensity 
hardly  consonant  with  the  character  of  this 
heartless  coquette.  However,  Massenet's  music 
calls  for  such  intensity;  and  as  for  that,  has  not 
the  great  Bizet  put  into  the  mouths  of  the  un- 
worthy Carmen  and  Escamillo  (just  before  he 
goes  into  the  bull  ring)  one  of  the  most  soulful 
of  all  love  songs? 

Brief  reference  has  been  made  in  the  fore- 
going to  the  fact  that  Massenet  here  makes  use,  as 
in  most  of  his  operas,  of  leading  motives.  On 
this  point  he  himself  once  remarked  to  a  Parisian 
journalist :  * 

"The  whole  opera  turns  around  and  grows 
out  of  fifteen  motives,  in  which,  so  to  speak,  my 
characters  are  incarnated.  For  each  character 
there  is  one  motive;  Manon  alone,  whose  type 
is  a  mixture  of  melancholy  and  gaiety,  has  two, 
to  indicate  this  alternative.  These  motives  per- 
vade the  opera  from  beginning  to  end,  now 
dimly  and  again  brightly,  like  the  light  on  a 
scene,  in  accordance  with  the  situations.  Thus 
all  the  characters  preserve  their  personality 
distinctly.  From  a  general  point  of  view  I 
have  done  the  same  thing  for  the  different  scenes; 
each  one  of  them  has  the  exact  colour  of  the 
situation,  true  to  its  epoch.  As  for  the  note  of 

*  Le  Figaro,  19  Janvier,  1884. 


144     MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

life,  passion,  actuality,  it  is  Manon  and  Des 
Grieux  who  give  it.  And  this  intentional  con- 
trast between  local  sentiment  and  human  feel- 
ing is  one  of  the  effects  on  which  I  think  I  have 
a  right  to  count  particularly." 

WERTHER 

The  temple  of  French  opera  was  constructed 
with  the  aid  of  foreigners.  Three  Italians — 
Lully,  Cherubini,  Spontini — and  two  Germans 
— Gluck  and  Meyerbeer — lent  valuable  aid. 

In  the  case  of  genuine  French  composers, 
foreign  influences  also  made  themselves  strongly 
felt,  contrary  to  the  general  impression  that  the 
Parisians  are  sufficient  unto  themselves.  To 
mention  only  a  few:  Boieldieu's  most  success- 
ful work,  La  Dame  Blanche,  was  based  on  a 
novel  by  Walter  Scott.  Bizet's  Carmen  has  a 
Spanish  plot  and  colouring;  while  of  Gounod's 
operas  the  two  which  have  survived  are  settings 
of  Shakspere's  Romeo  and  Juliet  and  Goethe's 
Faust. 

Goethe  also  provided  the  plot  for  one  of 
Massenet's  best  operas.  But  while  the  great 
German  poet  was  interested  in  librettos,  and 
tried  his  own  hand  at  them,  he  doubtless  would 
have  shaken  his  head  incredulously  had  anyone 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS     145 

foretold  him  that  opera  composers  would  seek 
material  for  a  plot  in  his  youthful  story,  The 
Sorrows  of  Werther.  Yet,  before  Massenet,  six 
had  already  done  this,  and  all  of  them,  with 
the  exception  of  Wenzel  Miller,  whose  opera 
was  a  parody,  wrote  for  the  French  or  Italian 
stage.  How  Massenet  came  to  do  it,  was  related 
by  him  to  Robert  Charvay.* 

"  You  wish  to  know  about  the  origin  of  Werther 
— how  the  idea  sprouted  in  my  mind  of  putting 
on  the  stage  this  adorable  and  poignant  'heart- 
tragedy'  of  Goethe  .  .  .  why,  furthermore,  dur- 
ing six  years,  the  score  remained  in  my  portfolio 
without  receiving  its  baptism  of  fire  on  the  stage  ? 
Very  well,  listen. 

"It  was  in  1885.  I  had  just  finished  Le  Cid. 
By  chance  I  met,  one  day,  Georges  Hartmann, 
who  in  his  waste  hours  and  under  a  pseudonym 
had  already  written  operatic  poems  and  ope'ra- 
comique  librettos.  '  I  know  you  thoroughly,'  he 
said  to  me,  'and  I  know  the  depths  of  your 
mind.  .  .  .  Yesterday  you  put  the  finishing 
touch  to  a  grandiloquent,  heroic  work  and 
to-day  I  find  you  nervous,  agitated,  unquiet. 
.  .  .  You've  just  left  the  table  and  you're  hun- 
gry again  .  .  .  You're  hunting  around  the  town 
for  a  subject,  seeking  what  you  may  devour. 

*  Echo  de  Paris.     Supplement  illustre,  Janvier,  1893. 


146     MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

.  .  .  Well,  I  know  one,  delicious,  exquisite,  which 
has  never  been  set  to  music  in  France,  and 
which,  in  your  place,  I  would  jump  at.  ... 
What,  pray? — It  is  a  passionate  yet  delicate 
drama,  poignant  but  intime.  .  .  .  What,  you 
repeat? — A  synthetic  soul-tragedy  which,  in 
simple  and  idyllic  surroundings,  hi  the  peace- 
ful atmosphere  of  a  German  village,  unfolds 
among  three  people  only:  the  husband,  wife 
and — friend.  Werther?  Yes,  Werther!  .  .  . 
Doesn't  this  paradox  tempt  you  to  give  us,  at 
last,  a  virtuous  woman  on  your  stage  .  .  .  you 
who  have  given  us  so  many  courtesans,  including 
our  Mother  Eve !'...'  Very  well,'  I  answered, 
'bring  me  a  plan  for  the  scenes.' 

"Hartmann  immediately  started  on  his  work, 
and,  a  few  days  later,  in  collaboration  with 
Paul  Milliet  and  Edouard  Blau,  he  showed  me 
the  first  sketch  of  Werther. 

"The  scenic  development  pleased  me  per- 
fectly, I  was  won  immediately.  .  .  .  And  let 
me  tell  you,  in  parenthesis,  I  am  far  from  being 
an  agreeable  collaborator,  far  from  it.  Very 
particular,  troublesome,  authoritative,  I  expect 
the  verses  to  adapt  themselves  exactly  to  the 
melodic  form;  I  insist  that  the  style  and  the 
development  of  the  scenes  shall  answer  ade- 
quately to  the  conception,  born  in  my  imagina- 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS     147 

tion  on  a  given  theme.  ...  I  do  not  permit  .  .  . 
but  enough!  My  collaborators  are  usually  old 
and  excellent  friends  who  accept  me  as  I  am, 
with  the  sum  total  of  my  good  qualities  and  my 
stock  of  faults  entire. 

"I  began  to  work.  .  .  .  The  first  measures 
I  wrote  in  the  spring  of  1885,  and  the  last  were 
finished  the  winter  of  1886.  .  .  .  Almost  two 
years  of  labour!  .  .  . 

"The  score  was  engraved  at  once.  ...  I  was 
thinking  of  who  should  be  my  chief  artist, 
the  one  who  was  to  be  the  reincarnation  of  the 
heroine.  A  singer  of  the  first  rank  presented 
herself  to  my  mind — Mme.  Caron.  Some  begin- 
nings of  arrangements  were  made  at  that  time 
with  Carvalho,  but  they  didn't  have  time  to 
come  to  anything.  The  Ope"ra-Comique,  at 
that  period,  passed  successively  into  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Jules  Barbier  and  Mr.  Paravey. 

"The  latter  just  then  was  asking  me  for  a 
work  he  might  perform  during  the  Exposition. 
...  He  knew  of  Werlher,  and  begged  me  to 
let  him  have  it.  ...  But  I  preferred  to  give 
him  Esclarmonde,  a  very  spectacular  drama, 
which  lent  itself  far  better  to  the  unfolding  of  a 
fine  mise-en-scene,  to  the  magnificence  of  stage 
decorations  and  costumes,  and  for  which  I  had 
a  wonderful  interpreter,  Miss  Sibyl  Sanderson, 


i48    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

gifted  with  a  miraculous  voice,  capable  of  rising 
to  any  heights.  .  .  .  Mr.  Paravey  accepted  the 
substitute.  ...  He  was  right,  for  Esclarmonde 
had  one  hundred  performances  during  the 
exposition. 

"Meanwhile,  Manon  was  given  in  Vienna — 
I  went  to  the  final  rehearsals.  Thanks  to  the 
way  it  was  staged,  to  the  admirable  work  of  the 
orchestra,  and  especially  to  the  gifts  of  the  two 
principals,  Mile.  Marie  Renard  and  Van  Dyck, 
the  success  was  great.  .  .  .  Manon  has  reached 
its  fiftieth  performance  in  Vienna,  a  very  high 
figure  if  one  remembers  that  there  a  work  is 
never  performed  more  than  once  a  week  on  the 
average ! 

"A  few  months  later  I  had  a  letter  from  Van 
Dyck.  'What  are  you  doing,'  wrote  this  excel- 
lent artist,  'what  are  you  doing  with  that  Werther 
of  which  you  spoke  to  me  one  night,  behind  the 
scenes?  Why  won't  you  give  us  the  pleasure  of 
creating  it  here?' 

"  I  admit  that  I  was  delighted  at  the  idea,  and 
signed  a  contract  for  it  with  the  direction  of  the 
Imperial  Opera. 

"In  January,  1892, 1  left  once  more  for  Vienna. 
The  day  after  my  arrival  a  carriage  decorated 
with  the  royal  coat-of-arms  came  to  take  me  to 
the  first  private  hearing  of  my  work.  .  .  . 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS    149 

"With  my  invitation  to  the  first  rehearsal  in 
my  pocket,  I  arrived  at  the  door  of  the  opera- 
house  at  half-past  nine  in  the  morning,  and  was 
at  once  taken  into  the  director's  private  office. 
Picture  to  yourself  an  enormous  and  luxurious 
room,  large  enough  to  admit  two  hundred  people, 
and  forming  part  of  the  apartment  in  which  Mr. 
Jahn  lives,  right  in  the  theatre. 

"The  artists  were  sitting  waiting,  in  a  charm- 
ing and  imposing  group.  At  my  entrance,  all 
rose  and  bowed.  The  director  came  forward 
with  a  few  well-chosen,  but  too  complimentary 
words  of  welcome.  The  occasion  was  taking 
on  the  intimidating  aspect  of  an  official  recep- 
tion. ...  I  was  much  moved.  Aside  from 
my  two  well-known  interpreters,  Mile.  Renard 
and  Van  Dyck,  I  knew  no  one.  .  .  . 

"The  director,  however,  took  me  to  the  piano 
on  which  my  still  unpublished  score  stood  open 
at  the  first  page. 

"I  sat  down  on  the  stool  and  was  about  to 
strike  the  first  chords.  .  .  .  Shall  I  tell  you 
that  at  this  moment  I  was  seized  by  a  great 
emotion?  .  .  .  My  heart  beat  as  if  it  would 
burst.  ...  In  a  second,  with  an  intensity 
which  was  really  painful,  I  felt  my  artistic  respon- 
sibility. .  .  .  What  terrible  r61e  was  I  about 
to  play?  .  .  .  That  Werther  score  was  already 


1 5o     MASSENET  AND   HIS   OPERAS 

six  years  old.  ...  I  hardly  remembered  it. 
.  .  .  How  many  of  my  works  had  been  performed 
in  that  time.  .  .  .  Here  I  was,  alone,  far  from 
my  own  country,  representing,  through  force  of 
circumstances,  French  musical  art.  ...  I  felt 
the  unmerited  honour  which  I  was  receiving. 
.  .  .  Was  I  not  in  Vienna,  the  Emperor's  guest, 
entertained  at  the  state's  expense,  remembering 
that,  alone,  two  composers  before  me — incon- 
trovertible masters  those  two — Verdi  and  Wagner, 
had  been  the  objects  of  such  high  and  precious  dis- 
tinction ?  ...  All  these  thoughts  at  once  came  to 
my  mind,  tears  filled  my  eyes,  and  there  I  sat 
stupidly  and  began  to  cry  like  a  woman. 

"What  kind  attentions,  what  exquisite  deli- 
cacy was  shown  me!  'Courage!  Courage!' 
came  from  every  side.  ...  I  made  a  tremen- 
dous effort  to  command  myself,  and  still  trembling 
with  emotion  I  played  my  entire  score.  .  .  . 
This  was,  at  Vienna,  the  first  hearing  of  Werther. 

"At  last,  on  the  i6th  of  February,  1892,  at 
seven  o'clock  in  the  evening,  the  first  perform- 
ance took  place  at  the  Imperial  Theatre. 

"It  is  not  for  me  to  tell  you  of  the  reception 
of  my  work,  by  the  press  and  Viennese  public, 
.  .  .  but  I  may  be  permitted,  at  least,  to  express 
my  grateful  admiration  to  those  who  helped  it  to 
succeed. 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS     151 

"To  the  eminent  director,  to  Mr.  Jahn,  who 
not  only  mounted  the  music  drama  with  jealous 
care,  but  who,  during  all  that  trying  period  of 
rehearsals,  never  ceased  to  surround  me  with 
evidences  of  affection  and  with  kind  attentions. 
I  feel  for  him  an  unchangeable  friendship. 
It  was  he  who,  at  the  first  performance,  did  me 
the  rare  and  precious  honour  of  conducting  his 
wonderful  orchestra  himself.  .  .  . 

"I  have  already  often  spoken  of  the  artistic 
conscience,  devotion,  and  fervour  of  Mile.  Marie 
Renard  and  of  Van  Dyck.  I  won't  repeat.  .  .  . 
What  is  the  use  ?  They  have  so  often  shown  their 
mettle,  and  have  won  so  many  victories!  .  .  . 

"Let  me  add,  however,  that  Van  Dyck  gave  me 
the  happiness  at  that  time  of  giving  me — in  colla- 
boration with  Camille  de  Rodaz — the  plan  for  a 
most  charming  ballet  in  one  act:  Le  Carillon, 
for  which  I  wrote  the  music,  and  which  is  still 
being  performed  in  Vienna  with  much  success. 

"But  in  spite  of  the  artistic  joys  that  my 
sojourn  in  Vienna  gave  me — during  my  few 
weeks'  stay,  they  had  been  gracious  enough  to 
give  at  the  Theatre  and  the  Imperial  Chapel 
the  works  of  my  friends  and  masters:  Thomas, 
Gounod,  Bizet,  Delibes,  Saint-Saens,  etc.  .  .  . 
I  was  obliged  to  leave  after  the  second  perform- 
ance of  Werther. 


152     MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

"  My  many  occupations,  my  work  at  the  Con- 
servatoire demanded  my  return  to  Paris. 

"It  was  then  that  Carvalho  wrote  and  scolded 
me  amicably  for  my  flight  to  Austria — 'Come 
back  to  us,'  he  wrote,  'and  repatriate  Werther 
whom,  musically,  you  have  made  French.' 

"We  easily  came  to  an  understanding,  and 
agreed  on  the  performance  at  the  Ope'ra-Co- 
mique  in  the  early  fall. 

"But  in  the  interval — I  am  proud  to  tell  it — 
Werther  had  the  honour  of  an  official  hearing. 
The  Minister  of  Public  Education,  M.  Bourgeois, 
begged  me  to  have  the  principal  parts  of  my 
work  performed  at  an  evening  party  which 
should  take  place  at  his  residence.  I  consented 
with  delight,  and,  one  evening,  for  more  than 
an  hour  I  was  at  the  piano  in  the  ministerial 
drawing-room,  accompanying  some  remark- 
able interpreters,  such  as  Mesdames  Isaac  and 
Leclercq,  Bouvet.  .  .  . 

"Rehearsals  began  at  the  Ope*ra-Comique. 
The  distribution  of  parts  was  superior  even  to 
my  hopes,  between  Mile.  Delna,  who  had  made 
a  triumphant  revelation  of  her  gifts  in  Les  Troyens: 
Mile.  Laisne",  the  very  charming  young  girl  who 
won  two  first  prizes  at  the  Conservatoire  that 
year;  and,  furthermore,  Ibos,  the  excellent 
tenor. 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS     153 

"Under  the  able  management  of  Carvalho, 
and  thanks  to  his  initiative  and  his  really  bril- 
liant finds,  the  mise-en-scene  is  perfectly  original 
and  has  nothing  in  common  with  the  one  in 
Vienna.  It  is  quite  new,  it  is  quite  different, 
and  it  is  quite  as  good. 

"I  do  not  know  what  awaits  me  at  the  public 
performance,  but  I  want  to  say  at  once  how 
touched  I  have  been  by  the  artistic  sympathy 
and  devotion  which  the  orchestra  and  its  excel- 
lent conductor,  Dance",  have  constantly  shown 
for  my  work.  .  .  .  And  this  impression  is  all 
the  stronger  since,  in  the  score  of  Werther,  the 
orchestra  symbolically  represents  one  of  the 
chief  characters. 

"And  now  I  am  waiting  with  a  somewhat 
nervous  impatience  the  final  judgment,  a  judg- 
ment from  which  there  is  no  appeal,  of  the  great 
Parisian  public.  It  is  to  that,  you  see,  that  one 
must  always  return;  to  that,  in  artistic  matters, 
belongs  the  last  word." 

"  At  that  moment,  as  my  eminent  interlocutor 
finished  his  story,  a  knock  came  at  the  door  of 
the  study  where  we  were. 

"  'Here,'  said  a  voice,  'are  the  last  proofs  of 
your  new  score.' 

"On  the  cover  I  read  the  title:  'Thais,  lyric 
drama  in  three  acts  and  six  tableaux,  poem  by 


154     MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

Louis  Gallet  from  the  novel  of  Anatole  France, 
music  by  Massenet.' 

"'Ah  yes!'  said  the  master  with  a  smile, 
'this  is  life.  .  .  .  To-day  Werther,  to-morrow 
Thais.  .  .  .  One  work  pushes  aside  the  other. 
...  Is  this  or  that  the  better  ?  Who  could  say 
at  the  present  time  .  .  .  and  what  does  it 
matter  ?  The  great  thing  is  to  work  constantly 
and  to  produce,  and  then  to  produce  again.  .  .  . 
You  see,  it  is  as  Voltaire  said:  'We  must 
cultivate  our  garden ! ' " 

This  interesting  interview  appeared  on  the  day 
of  the  premiere  of  Werther  in  Paris,  January  16, 
1893.  Geneva  had  got  ahead  a  few  days  in 
giving  the  first  performance  in  French  of  this 
opera.  Within  a  month  Brussels,  Antwerp,  Tou- 
lon, Toulouse,  Nice,  Rheims,  Amiens,  Nantes, 
and  Lyons  had  followed  suit.  Forty-three  repre- 
sentations were  given  at  the  Paris  Ope'ra-Comique 
the  first  year,  but  during  the  second  there  were 
only  two!  It  took  the  opera  some  years,  after 
the  first  succes  de  curiosite  had  passed,  to  win 
a  real  success. 

To  this  day,  while  critics  and  musicians  laud 
the  work  as  a  masterly  score,  the  public  (at  least 
outside  of  France)  has  not  taken  it  to  its  heart 
as  it  has  some  of  the  other  Massenet  operas. 
Even  Jean  de  Reszke,  who  (in  agreement  with 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS    155 

Anton  Seidl  and  other  good  judges)  had  a  great 
admiration  for  this  music,  could  not  make  it  pop- 
ular, either  in  London  or  in  New  York.  Suther- 
land Edwards  relates  in  his  Personal  Recollections 
how  Augustus  Harris,  who  did  not  think  the  Eng- 
lish public  would  like  this  work,  nevertheless  pro- 
duced it,  to  humour  that  great  tenor.  "To  the 
shame  of  our  opera-goers,"  Mr.  Edwards  con- 
tinues, "Massenet's  charming  music  was  not 
appreciated.  At  the  end  of  the  performance 
Sir  Augustus  said  to  De  Reszke:  'Well,  you 
have  had  your  way,  Werther  has  been  played, 
and  for  the  present  season  this  one  representa- 
tion will  be  enough.'"  He,  nevertheless,  con- 
sented to  a  repetition;  but  the  advance  sale  was 
so  small  (a  beggarly  £30)  that  it  was  not  given. 
De  Reszke  had  held  out  to  the  last;  but  when  he 
had  sent  a  request  for  a  couple  of  stalls  ("if  there 
were  any  left ")  and  the  manager  had  sent  him  80 
stalls,  20  boxes,  and  100  amphitheatre  stalls, 
with  a  note  saying  that  "if  he  wanted  twice  as 
many  he  could  have  them,"  he  also  succumbed. 
It  is  not  a  mere  coincidence  that  nearly  all  the 
successful  modern  operas  are  based  on  popular 
plays,  Puccini's  works  being  a  conspicuous 
instance.  The  public  wants  action,  and  is  slow 
to  warm  to  a  work  which  has  too  little  of  it.  No 
book  has  ever  been  more  widely  popular  than 


i56    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

The  Sorrows  of  Wcrther ;  but,  unlike  Manon 
Lescaut,  it  contains  only  a  few  incidents  that 
can  be  utilised  for  theatrical  purposes. 

Under  the  circumstances,  one  cannot  but 
praise  Edouard  Blau,  Paul  Milliet,  and  G.  Hart- 
mann  for  their  skill  in  constructing  a  serviceable 
libretto  out  of  this  unpromising  material. 

In  the  first  act  we  see  the  bailiff,  Charlotte's 
father,  teaching  his  youngest  children  to  sing  a 
Christmas  carol.  Charlotte  herself  is  dressing 
for  a  ball.  She  is  ready  before  the  carriage 
arrives,  and  gives  the  children  their  daily  bread 
and  butter,  as  she  had  done  ever  since  her  mother 
died.  Among  those  invited  to  the  ball  is  Werther, 
her  cousin,  whom  she  salutes  with  a  kiss.  While 
they  are  at  the  ball,  Albert  returns.  He  has 
been  away  six  months,  and  wonders  whether  the 
feelings  of  Charlotte,  who  is  engaged  to  marry 
him,  have  remained  unchanged.  Some  words 
of  her  younger  sister,  Sophie,  reassure  him,  and 
he  leaves. 

Enter  Charlotte  and  Werther,  back  from  the 
ball.  Charlotte  is  talking  of  her  mother,  but 
Werther  interrupts  her  with  a  passionate  decla- 
ration of  love.  At  that  moment  her  father 
appears,  announcing  the  return  of  Albert.  Char- 
lotte hears  it  with  mixed  feelings.  She  had 
become  betrothed  to  Albert  at  her  mother's 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS    157 

desire,  not  her  heart's;  and  as  she  departs, 
Werther  declares:  "If  you  keep  that  promise 
I  shall  die!" 

Act  II.  Three  months  later.  Charlotte  and 
Albert  are  married.  Albert  knows  that  Werther 
loves  his  wife,  but  has  confidence  in  his  friend. 
Charlotte  and  Werther  meet  again,  and  he  renews 
his  confessions.  She  begs  him  to  leave,  not  to 
try  to  see  her  again  till  Christmas,  at  any  rate. 

Act  III.  Charlotte  alone,  in  her  home.  She 
wonders  how  she  could  have  sent  Werther  away. 
"Since  he  has  left  me,  he  is  ever  in  my  mind." 
She  once  more  reads  over  the  letters  he  has 
written  to  her,  and  is  overcome  with  emotion. 
Sophie's  efforts  to  chase  away  her  melancholy 
are  unavailing.  Left  alone  again,  she  prays  for 
strength,  when  suddenly  Werther  appears.  "Yes, 
it  is  I,"  he  exclaims;  "I  am  here  on  the  day  you 
said  I  might  return."  They  look  at  the  harpsi- 
chord, at  the  books  they  used  to  read  together. 
Her  voice  betrays  her  feelings.  "You  love 
me!"  he  exclaims.  And  then,  in  the  words  of 
Goethe,  "he  put  his  arms  round  her  waist, 
pressed  her  to  his  bosom,  and  covered  her 
trembling,  stuttering  lips  with  furious  kisses. 
'Werther!'  she  cried,  with  smothering  voice. 
'Werther!'  she  repeated,  with  a  calm,  noble 
expression,  pushing  him  away  from  her.  He 


158    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

did  not  resist,  but  released  her  and  threw  him- 
self madly  at  her  feet.  Timidly  and  confused, 
she  collected  her  wits  and,  trembling  between 
love  and  anger,  said:  'This  is  the  last  time, 
Werther!  You  shall  never  see  me  again.'  And 
with  a  look  of  deep  love  at  the  wretch  she  has- 
tened into  another  room  and  locked  the  door." 

Albert,  coming  home,  hears  that  Werther  has 
returned.  He  notes  his  wife's  agitation.  At 
that  moment  a  servant  enters  with  a  note  to  him 
from  Werther,  reading:  "I  am  going  on  a  long 
journey;  will  you  lend  me  your  pistols?"  As 
he  gives  them  to  the  servant,  with  a  peculiar 
look  at  her,  she  has  a  horrible  presentiment, 
and,  exclaiming,  "Oh  God!  thou  wouldst  not 
have  me  arrive  too  late!"  leaves  hastily. 

Act  IV.  Christmas  night.  Orchestral  pre- 
lude, accompanying  a  snow  storm.  Then  the 
scene  changes  to  Werther's  apartment.  Char- 
lotte's voice  is  heard  calling  Werther.  No 
answer.  She  enters  hastily,  sees  Werther's  body, 
and  throws  herself  on  it  in  despair.  He  is 
dying,  but  has  voice  enough  left  to  beg  her  for- 
giveness for  what  he  has  done,  and  to  tell  her 
that  she  had  done  what  was  just  and  right.  She 
wants  to  summon  aid,  but  he  says  it  is  too  late, 
and  he  dies  happily  after  hearing  from  her  lips 
the  confession  that  she  had  loved  him  from  the 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS     159 

moment  when  she  had  seen  him  for  the  first 
time.  The  voices  of  children  singing  their  carol 
mingle  with  his  dying  strains. 

In  this  last  scene,  and  in  this  alone,  the  libret- 
tists deviated,  and  wisely  so,  from  Goethe's 
story.  In  that,  it  is  the  servants  who  discover 
Werther  dying.  The  doctor  is  summoned,  and  a 
general  alarm  brings  Albert,  the  bailiff,  and  his 
oldest  sons.  The  suicide  was  buried  at  eleven 
o'clock  in  the  evening.  "The  bailiff  followed 
the  coffin  with  his  sons.  Albert  could  not  do  the 
same.  Charlotte's  life  was  despaired  of."  That 
is  the  only  mention  made  of  her  by  the  poet  in 
this  scene. 

Thackeray,  in  his  satire  on  The  Sorrows  of 
Werther,  summed  up  the  situation  less  tragically: 
Charlotte,  having  seen  his  body 
Borne  before  her  on  a  shutter, 
Like  a  well-conducted  person, 
Went  on  cutting  bread  and  butter. 

That  Goethe's  book  is  an  autobiographic 
episode  in  the  form  of  fiction  is  known  to  most 
persons.  The  magistrate  Buff  and  his  two  daugh- 
ters actually  lived  at  Wetzlar;  there  was  a  real 
Werther  (his  name  was  Jerusalem),  who  com- 
mitted suicide  in  1772  in  consequence  of  unre- 
quited love.  Goethe  was  actually  infatuated 


i6o    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

with  Charlotte  Buff,  who  was  betrothed  to  a  man 
named  Kestner;  but,  instead  of  committing 
suicide  like  his  Werther  and  Jerusalem,  Goethe 
eased  his  heart  by  writing  this  diary  of  his  hope- 
less passion.  It  is  this  psychic  realism  that 
gave  his  book  such  an  enormous  vogue  and 
social  influence,  and  that  makes  it  a  great  work  of 
literature.* 

In  accepting  it  as  the  subject  for  an  opera, 
Massenet  may  have  had  in  mind  Wagner's 
Tristan  und  Isolde,  which  also  is  a  love  story 
with  little  action.  But  Tristan  pulsates  with 
passion  from  beginning  to  end;  it  is  a  psychic 
drama,  and  each  act  has  a  stirring  climax; 
whereas  in  Werther  there  is  only  one  real  climax. 
This,  combined  with  the  fact  that  the  composer 
gave  all  his  good  melodies  to  the  tenor,  leaving 
little  for  the  prima-donna  to  do  except  to  look 
pretty  and  domestic,  doubtless  accounts  for  the 
fact  that  Werther  is  so  seldom  sung — a  fact  "to 
be  deplored,"  as  Henry  E.  Krehbiel  remarks. 
Werther  on  the  whole  is,  as  he  truly  says,  "a 
beautiful  opera;  as  instinct  with  throbbing  life 

*  When  Werther  had  its  first  performance  in  Leipsic  the 
title  r61e  was  sung  by  a  tenor  named  Buff,  a  grand-nephew  of 
Goethe's  Charlotte.  A  still  stranger  coincidence  was  the 
suicide  of  George  Kestner,  grandson  of  Charlotte,  on  the 
very  evening  when  Massenet's  opera  was  sung  for  the  first 
time  in  Vienna. 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS .  161 

in  everyone  of  its  scenes  as  the  more  widely 
admired  Manon  is  in  its  best  scene.  It  has  its 
weak  spots  as  have  all  of  Massenet's  operas, 
despite  his  mastery  of  technique,  but  its  music 
will  always  appeal  to  refined,  artistic  sensi- 
bilities for  its  lyric  charm,  its  delicate  workman- 
ship, its  splendid  dramatic  climax  in  the  duo 
between  Werther  and  Charlotte,  beginning: 
'Ah!  pourvu  que  je  voie  ces  yeux  tou jours 
ouverts,'  and  its  fine  scoring.  It  smacks  more 
of  the  atmosphere  of  the  Parisian  salon  than  of 
the  sweet  breezes  with  which  Goethe  filled  the 
story,  but  no  Frenchman  has  yet  been  able  to 
talk  aught  but  polite  French  in  music  for  the 
stage,  Berlioz  excepted,  and  the  music  of  Werther 
is  of  finer  texture  than  that  of  most  of  the  operas 
produced  by  Massenet  since."  * 

Massenet  himself  said  to  a  reporter:  "Into 
Werther  I  put  all  my  soul  and  artistic  conscience." 

The  score — like  that  of  Esclarnwnde,  which, 
though  produced  before  Werther,  was  composed 
after  it — bears  witness  to  the  influence  of  Wagner 
on  Massenet,  as  on  all  French  composers  at  that 
period.  It  is  rather  odd  to  hear  a  suggestion  of 
the  Siegfried  forest  sounds  in  the  snow-storm 
which  precedes  the  last  act  of  Werther.  Other 

*  Chapters  oj  Opera.  By  Henry  Edward  Krehbiel.  New 
York:  H.  Holt  &  Co.,  1908,  p.  240. 


i62     MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

Wagnerian  strains  peep  out  of  the  score  here 
and  there,  but  not  in  such  a  way  as  to  suggest 
actual  plagiarism.  Ingenious  use  is  made  of 
leading  motives,  and  the  opera  is  not  divided  into 
detached  numbers  but  flows  on  steadily,  the 
orchestra  spinning  its  own  melody,  while  the 
vocal  parts  are  a  sort  of  melodious  recitative 
rising  to  a  flowing  arioso  in  impassioned  moments 
especially  in  the  third  act,  which  is  splendidly 
passionate,  the  climax  coming  at  the  moment 
when  the  long  restrained  Tristanesque  love  at 
last  compels  utterance.  Here  the  music  is  truly 
inspired. 

Emma  Eames  and  Jean  de  Reszke  aroused  the 
audience  to  a  rare  pitch  of  enthusiasm  in  this 
love  scene  when  the  opera  had  its  first  hearing 
in  America,  on  April  20,  1894,  at  the  Metro- 
politan Opera  House.  Unfortunately,  as  was  the 
custom  of  that  time  with  novelties,  the  opera 
had  been  delayed  till  near  the  end  of  the  season, 
so  there  was  no  opportunity  to  force  it  on  the 
public,  as  it  should  have  been.  It  was  sung 
only  once,  and  once  again  two  seasons  later; 
then  it  was  shelved. 

A  brilliant  revival  came  with  the  opening  of  the 
New  Theatre  in  New  York,  on  November  16, 
1909.  To  Werther  fell  the  honour  of  being  the 
first  opera  to  be  produced  at  this  house.  The 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS    163 

title  rdle  was  assigned  to  Edmond  Cle*ment,  who 
had  sung  this  part  some  fifty  times  in  Paris  during 
the  preceding  fifteen  months,  and  almost  as  often 
in  the  provinces.  It  was  his  American  de"but,  and 
he  won  a  great  success.  Every  detail  of  his  art 
as  singer  and  actor  was  admirable,  but  it  was 
particularly  in  the  "Pere,  pere,  que  je  ne  connais 
pas"  that  he  proved  that  he  not  only  had  an  agree- 
able voice  and  knew  how  to  sing,  but  had  also 
an  emotional  temperament,  which  counts  for  more 
in  modern  art  than  flawless  singing. 

Geraldine  Farrar  made  her  first  appearance 
as  Charlptte  on  this  occasion.  She  had  the 
advantages  of  youth  and  beauty  so  important 
in  this  r61e.  But  had  she  been  as  plain  as 
Jenny  Lind  or  Marianne  Brandt,  she  would 
have  invested  it  with  exceptional  charm,  thanks 
to  her  rare  gifts  of  facial  and  vocal  expression. 
Her  chameleonic  voice  was  not  only  beautiful, 
it  changed  colour  with  every  line  of  the  poem,  and 
her  art  made  amends  for  Massenet's  mistake  in 
giving  Charlotte  fewer  good  airs  than  Werther. 
Despite  her  momentary  yielding  to  love  for  her 
husband's  friend,  she  remains  a  saint  at  heart, 
and  saints  are  much  more  difficult  to  portray 
than  sinners.  Miss  Farrar  succeeded  admirably 
in  this  case,  as  she  succeeded  with  Elizabeth,  in 
Tannhauser,  which,  in  the  words  of  Lilli  Leh- 


i64     MASSENET  AND   HIS   OPERAS 

mann,  she  made  "infantine,  demure,  and 
saintly."  Two  pictures  in  these  groups  will 
remain  forever  in  the  memory  of  those  who  saw 
them:  Charlotte  cutting  bread  for  her  little 
sisters  and  brothers — an  idyllic  group  that  would 
inspire  a  painter  to  a  master-work — and  Char- 
lotte beaming  happily  on  Werther  while  he  reads 
the  manuscript  translation  of  Ossian. 

The  memorable  cast  included  also  Alma 
Gluck,  Dinh  Gilly,  and  Pini  Corsi. 

LE  CID 

Is  Massenet's  Le  Cid  a  legendary  or  a  his- 
toric opera?  That  depends  upon  whether  we 
accept  Rodrigo  del  Bivar,  usually  known  by  the 
Arabic  term  Cid  ("the  Chief"),  as  a  historic 
personage  or  a  myth.  Although  his  very  sword 
is  preserved  in  the  Madrid  Museum,  and  although 
tourists  have  shown  to  them  at  Burgos  his  monu- 
ment with  the  inscription:  "Here  stood  the 
house  where  was  born,  in  1026,  Rodrigo  Dias  de 
Vibas,  called  the  Cid  Campeador;  he  died  at 
Valencia,  February  7,  1099,"  some  historians 
have  questioned  the  existence  of  such  a  man, 
as  they  have  that  of  William  Tell,  King  Arthur, 
Agamemnon,  and  Abraham.  It  is  probable, 
however,  that  there  was  really  such  a  warrior,  who 


Photograph  by  Georg  Gerlach  &  Co.,  Berlin 

GERALDINE  FARRAR  AS  CHARLOTTE  IN  "WERTHER" 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS     165 

fought,  now  against  the  Moors  and  at  other 
times  with  them;  a  valorous,  reckless,  indom- 
itable soldier,  so  fiercely  independent  that  he 
defied  even  King  Alfonso,  who  had  to  banish  him 
repeatedly,  and  refused  to  serve  as  the  vassal  of 
any  king.  Nor  was  his  moral  character  above 
reproach,  for  it  is  related  of  him  that  he  once 
borrowed  a  large  sum  from  the  Jews,  giving  them 
as  security  some  chests  which  he  said  were  filled 
with  treasure,  but  which,  on  being  opened,  were 
found  to  contain  sand. 

In  choosing  the  old  Spanish  hero  for  an  operatic 
subject,  Massenet  did  very  much  what  Gounod 
and  his  collaborators  did  when  they  gave 
Goethe's  Faust  an  operatic  cut;  in  both  cases  the 
love  story  was  made  the  centre  around  which 
other  things  revolved  as  of  secondary  impor- 
tance. Massenet's  librettists  are  obviously  not 
born  poets,  but  they  saw  clearly  enough  that  they 
could  not  tell  the  love  story  of  Don  Rodrigo  as  it  is 
told  in  the  "Chronique  rime"e"  of  the  eleventh 
century,  in  which  Rodrigo  is  represented  as  a  very 
ardent  soldier,  but  a  very  cool  and  coy  lover,  the 
latter  being  less  remarkable  when  it  is  borne  in 
mind  that  he  is  represented  as  being  only  thirteen 
years  old.  At  that  age  he  kills  the  Count  Gomez 
de  Gormaz,  whose  daughter,  Chimene,  calls  upon 
the  King  for  vengeance.  Rodrigo  is  summoned 


i66     MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

to  court,  whereupon  Chimene  demands  him  for 
her  husband.  Rodrigo  is  rude  to  the  King  and 
scorns  the  damsel,  but  the  King  compels  him  to 
marry  her.  He,  however,  is  equal  to  the  occa- 
sion; he  marries  her,  but  swears  not  to  come 
near  her  until  he  has  fought  five  battles  with 
the  Moors.  He  keeps  his  word,  and  that  is  the 
last  heard  of  his  love  affair. 

Such  a  story  might  do  well  enough  for  a 
burlesque  operetta,  but  for  an  opera,  MM. 
D'Ennery,  Gallet,  and  Blau  had  to  give  it  a 
different  form,  based  partly  on  Corneille's  play 
and  its  Spanish  prototype,  partly  on  their  own 
fancy.  It  would  hardly  be  worth  while  here  to 
dwell  on  the  different  versions  and  details  of 
the  story.  As  adapted  for  Massenet's  music  it 
is  in  brief  as  follows:  The  Infanta  of  Spain 
and  Chimene,  daughter  of  the  Count  de  Gormas, 
are  both  in  love  with  Rodrigo,  who  is  to  be 
knighted  by  the  King.  The  Infanta  feels  that, 
as  a  queen,  she  cannot  marry  him,  and  there- 
fore, with  a  heavy  heart,  she  cedes  him  to  Chi- 
mene. Her  father,  the  Count,  expects  to  be 
appointed  preceptor  for  the  Infanta,  but  this 
honour  is  conferred  instead  on  Rodrigo' s  father, 
Don  Diego.  This  leads  to  a  quarrel  between  the 
Count  and  Don  Diego,  in  which  the  latter  is 
worsted.  He  appeals  to  his  son  to  avenge  his 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS     167 

honour,  and  Don  Rodrigo,  after  a  terrible  battle 
of  emotions,  attacks  and  kills  Chimene's  father, 
feeling  that  he  has  at  the  same  time  murdered  her 
love  for  him  and  ruined  his  life's  happiness. 

In  setting  this  libretto  to  music  the  versatile 
Massenet  evidently  aimed  at  creating  a  work  in 
the  style  of  Meyerbeer — spectacular  and  effec- 
tive. When  I  heard  it  the  first  time  I  wrote 
that  in  so  doing  he  made  a  mistake:  "There  is 
nothing  grand  or  heroic  about  his  muse,  and  the 
attempt  to  make  her  act  heroically  has  resulted 
as  unsuccessfully  as  would  an  attempt  to  make 
an  Amazonian  warrior  of  a  petite  and  graceful 
Andalusian  maiden.  Massenet's  music  is  femi- 
nine; it  has  voluptuous  charms  of  melody,  a 
lovely  orchestral  complexion,  bright  and  chatty 
harmonic  details,  and  a  love  for  drawing-room 
scenes  and  gossip.  Such  music  is  suited  to  the 
Manon  and  Werther  librettos,  but  not  to  a  half- 
military  opera  like  the  Cid" 

While  there  is  some  truth  in  this,  there  is  also 
unjust  exaggeration.  Undoubtedly,  the  heroic 
is  not  Massenet's  specialty,  yet  he  has  shown  in 
several  of  his  operas,  including  this  one,  that  the 
hand  which  holds  his  pen  can  also  deliver  vig- 
orous, masculine  strokes.  In  the  Cid  there  are 
not  a  few  of  these.  From  the  operatic  point  of 
view,  the  most  effective  scene  is  that  in  front 


i68    MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

of  the  Burgos  cathedral,  the  organ  and  bells  of 
which  unite  with  the  orchestra  and  chorus  in  an 
ensemble  of  real  grandeur. 

In  several  places,  when  two  or  more  voices 
unite,  the  music  has  the  true  dramatic  thrill. 
The  gem  of  the  opera,  however,  is  Chimene's 
soulful  Pleurez,  mes  yeux,  which  for  a  quarter 
of  a  century  has  been  one  of  the  most  popular 
of  French  songs.  Charming,  also,  is  the  ballet 
music,  which,  since  the  opera  is  seldom  heard, 
has  been  rescued  for  the  concert-hall  and  is 
often — though  not  so  often  as  it  deserves — 
heard  at  popular  concerts.  In  the  orchestration 
there  is  a  great  deal  of  esprit  and  fascinating 
detail,  showing  that  the  composer  must  have 
bestowed  infinite  pains  upon  it,  though  he  wrote 
the  score  in  less  than  nine  months. 

It  was  with  a  cast  of  exceptional  brilliancy 
that  Le  Cid  was  produced  at  the  OpeYa  in  Paris, 
on  November  30,  1885.  Jean  and  Edouard  de 
Reszke  impersonated  Rodrigue  and  Don  Diegue; 
Plancon  was  the  Comte  de  Gormas,  while 
Mmes.  Fides-Devries  and  Bosnian  had  the 
parts  of  Chimene  and  L' Infante. 

Nine  performances  were  given  in  the  last 
month  of  1885,  and  forty-four  in  the  following 
year.  The  total  number  from  1885  to  1892  was 
ninety-one,  according  to  Imbert,  who  also  gives 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS     169 

a  list  of  twenty-six  composers  who  preceded 
Massenet  in  setting  this  subject  to  music.  Among 
them  all  there  is  not  a  Frenchman. 

When  Le  Cid  had  its  first  performance  in  New 
York,  on  February  12,  1907,  the  cast  was  even 
greater  than  at  the  Paris  premiere;  for,  beside 
Jean  and  Edouard  de  Reszke  and  Plancon  in 
their  original  characters,  no  less  a  man  than 
Jean  Lassalle  had  the  part  of  the  King  (in  place 
ofMelchise'dec  in  Paris)  and  the  rdles  of  L' Infante 
and  Chimene  were  assumed  by  Clementine  de 
Vere  and  Felia  Litvinne. 

This  performance  was  given  by  way  of  cele- 
brating the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  Maurice 
Grau's  connection  with  the  stage.  From  my 
review  of  it  I  cite  the  following: 

"Mme.  De  Vere's  make-up  might  have  been 
altered  to  advantage;  vocally,  she  was  at  her  best 
in  the  first  act.  Mme.  Litvinne  had  another 
surprise  for  her  admirers;  her  voice  was  clear, 
brilliant,  tinged  with  passion,  and  altogether  her 
Chimene  will  rank  next  to  her  Isolde.  M. 
Lassalle  made  the  most  of  the  King,  while  M. 
Planfon's  count  was  truly  Spanish  in  hauteur  and 
bearing.  But  the  principal  honours  were  car- 
ried off  by  the  de  Reszke  brothers,  both  so 
admirable  that  it  is  difficult  to  say  to  whom  the 
palm  should  be  assigned.  From  reading  the 


170    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

libretto  or  score  one  gets  no  idea  of  how  much 
could  be  made  of  Don  Diego's  r61e  both  in 
action  and  song;  M.  Edouard  de  Reszke  reveals 
its  possibilities  in  the  most  delightful  way;  his 
sonorous  voice  never  seemed  more  mellow  and 
emotional  than  last  evening.  As  for  M.  Jean 
de  Reszke,  his  Rodrigo  has  added  another  to  the 
long  list  of  impersonations  which  none  who  have 
seen  and  heard  them  will  ever  forget.  Tenors 
are  usually  undersized,  often  effeminate-looking 
men,  while  this  Polish  tenor  is  the  very  incarna- 
tion of  manliness.  Not  only  are  his  stature  and 
appearance  manly,  but  his  voice  has  a  manly 
ring  like  that  of  no  other  tenor.  He  is  the  Cid 
among  tenors,  and,  in  all  probability,  Massenet 
had  him  in  mind  when  he  fashioned  that  r61e. 
Just  to  look  at  his  chivalrous  figure  would  be 
worth  the  price  of  a  ticket.  Although  the  Cid 
music  is  perhaps  a  trifle  high  for  his  voice,  he 
sang  it  with  the  purity  of  tone,  energy,  and  dra- 
matic intensity  of  feeling  that  are  now  inseparable 
from  everything  he  does." 

LA  NAVARRAISE 

While  England  has,  so  far,  manifested  less 
interest  in  Massenet's  operas  than  France, 
Belgium,  Germany,  and  America,  there  is  one 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS     171 

of  them  which  actually  was  heard  first  in 
London. 

On  June  20,  1894,  Augustus  Harris  produced 
at  Covent  Garden  La  Navarraise,  an  "Episode 
lyrique"  in  two  acts,  by  Jules  Massenet,  with 
Emma  Calve  as  the  heroine.  Paris  had  to  wait 
till  October  8  of  the  following  year  before 
hearing  this  opera,  also  with  Calve";  and  it  was 
with  the  same  superlative  artist  that  it  was  first 
given  in  New  York,  at  the  Metropolitan  Opera 
House,  on  December  n,  1895. 

La  Navarraise  is  a  military  opera,  but  it  is 
extremely  unlike  The  Daughter  of  the  Regiment. 
There  are  drums  and  fifes  and  brasses  in  that 
work,  too;  yet  how  dear  old  Donizetti  would 
have  opened  his  eyes  (and  probably  shut  his 
ears)  could  he  have  heard  this  century-end 
soldier-opera,  of  which  an  English  critic  said  that 
"there  is  little  in  the  score  but  firing  of  cannons 
and  beating  of  drums." 

The  stage  directions  for  the  opening  scene 
indicate  the  spirit  of  this  whole  "e'pisode  lyrique" : 
"In  the  horizon  the  snow-covered  Pyrenees  are 
visible.  Soldiers,  begrimed  with  powder,  com- 
ing from  the  valley,  straggle  past,  out  of  line. 
Some  of  them,  wounded,  are  supported  by  their 
companions;  others,  dying,  are  carried  on  litters. 
A  group  of  women  pray  in  silence  before  a 


172    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

Madonna.  A  night-light  burns  before  the  holy 
image.  It  is  six  o'clock  in  the  evening.  Some 
women  are  looking  over  the  barricade.  From 
time  to  time  rifle  shots  and  heavy  artillery  are 
heard.  The  women  stop  praying  and  listen 
anxiously." 

Into  this  atmosphere,  stifling  with  the  smell 
of  powder,  comes,  trembling  and  out  of  breath, 
Anita,  the  beautiful  black-eyed  orphan  from 
Navarre.  She  is  in  love  with  the  sergeant, 
Araquil,  who  presently  appears,  and  there  is  a 
love  scene,  which  is  interrupted  by  the  arrival 
of  the  sergeant's  father,  a  purse-proud  man  who 
refuses  his  consent  to  his  son's  marriage  unless 
the  bride  brings  a  dowry  of  two  thousand  douros. 
Anita  is  penniless.  Her  lover  is  taken  away 
by  his  father,  and  she  remains,  plunged  in  grief 
and  despair.  In  this  mood  she  overhears  Gen- 
eral Garrido  of  the  Royalist  troops  offering  a 
reward  to  anyone  who  will  vanquish  the  Carlist 
enemy,  Zuccaraga,  who  has  captured  an  im- 
portant Basque  village.  Anita  presents  herself 
impetuously,  and  offers  to  do  it  for  two  thousand 
douros.  "What  is  your  name?"  he  asks.  "I 
have  none — I  am  the  girl  from  Navarre,"  she 
replies,  and  rushes  off  to  the  enemy's  camp. 

Her  lover  returns  and  searches  for  her  in  vain. 
Ramon,  a  lieutenant,  informs  him  that  some  of 


Copyright-by  Mishkin  Studio.  N.  Y. 

GERVILLE-REACHE  AS   HERODIAS   IN  "HERODIADE1 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS    173 

the  wounded  soldiers  said  they  saw  her  enter  the 
Carlist  camp  and  ask  for  Zuccaraga;  that  gen- 
eral, he  adds,  "is  said  to  be  very  fond  of  women 
— he  is  young  and  good-looking."  Furious  with 
jealousy,  Araquil  shouts :  "Is  she  a  spy  or  worse ? 
I  shall  find  out!"  and  with  that  he  rushes  off. 

The  soldiers,  in  groups,  partake  of  their 
rations  of  soup  and  wine,  then  wrap  themselves 
hi  their  blankets  and  fall  asleep.  The  orches- 
tra plays  a  dreamy  nocturne  as  an  intermezzo. 
Suddenly  shots  are  heard  in  the  distance.  Anita 
rushes  in,  pale  as  death,  with  dishevelled  hair, 
and  blood  stains  on  her  arms.  She  informs  the 
horrified  General  Garrido  that  she  has  killed 
Zuccaraga;  her  gestures  confirm  her  words,  and 
he  gives  her  the  money  under  promise  of 
secrecy. 

She  can  now  marry  Araquil.  She  has  the 
dowry.  But  where  is  he?  Soon  he  appears, 
mortally  wounded  in  the  effort  to  enter  the 
enemy's  camp,  where  he  hoped  to  rescue  her 
from  sin.  The  sight  of  her  gold,  the  secret  of 
which  she  has  promised  not  to  reveal,  convinces 
him  of  her  guilt.  Funeral  bells  toll  in  the  dis- 
tance. They  are  for  the  dead  Carlist  general. 
Araquil  has  an  inkling  of  the  truth,  and  dies 
with  the  words:  "The  price  of  blood — horrible!" 
Anita's  mind  gives  way  under  the  strain,  and 


174     MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

with  maniacal  laughter  she  throws  herself  on 
her  lover's  body. 

When  this  opera  was  first  produced,  Massenet 
was  accused  of  having  been  led  by  the  extraor- 
dinary success  of  Mascagni's  Cavalleria  Rusti- 
cana  to  try  his  hand  also  at  the  "blood  and 
thunder"  veristic  style.  But  Mascagni's  opera 
appeared  in  1890,  and  was  an  immediate  suc- 
cess. If  Massenet  had  really  wanted  to  benefit 
by  the  excitement  over  this  new  type  of  short 
opera,  he  surely  would  have  done  so  at  once, 
instead  of  waiting  half  a  decade.* 

Doubtless,  one  reason  why  Massenet  was 
eager  to  write  a  war  opera  was  that  it  gave  him 
a  welcome  opportunity  to  show  his  critics  that  he 
was  able  to  do  something  entirely  different  from 
his  usual  style  of  sentimental,  tender,  amorous 
effusions.  A  love  story  runs  through  La  Navar- 
raise,  too,  but  it  is  almost  smothered  in  the 
fumes  of  gunpowder. 

There  is  as  much  "atmosphere"  in  the  score 

*  In  an  earlier  opera — Werther,  near  the  end  of  Act  I — 
Massenet  uses  a  melody  quite  like  one  in  Cavalleria.  As 
Werther  was  sung  in  Paris  for  the  director  Carvalho  as  early 
as  1889,  or  a  year  before  Cavalleria  was  produced,  there  can 
be  no  question  of  borrowing  on  the  part  of  the  Frenchman; 
— nor  on  the  part  of  the  Italian,  as  Werther  was  not  sung 
publicly  till  1892.  The  critic  Fourcaud  remarks  that  Mascagni 
treated  this  melody  like  a  pupil,  Massenet  like  a  master. 


FOUR  METROPOLITAN  OPERAS     175 

of  this  opera  as  in  Debussy's  Pelleas  et  Mtli- 
sande,  but  atmosphere  of  a  very  different  kind; 
nor  is  it  all  of  the  kind  which  is  created  by  firing 
rifles  and  guns,  ringing  bells,  blowing  trumpet 
calls,  clashing  castanets  and  cymbals,  and 
beating  drums.  The  whole  orchestra  is  bel- 
ligerent, noisy,  explosive — how  could  it  be  other- 
wise? When  I  heard  this  opera  the  first  time 
I  was  so  absorbed  in  the  action  and  in  the  realis- 
tic art  of  Mme.  Calve  that  I  forgot  to  listen  to  the 
music  as  such  and  gauge  its  value.  I  had  the 
same  experience,  as  a  youth,  with  the  dragon 
fight  in  Wagner's  Siegfried.  Subsequently,  I 
learned  that  in  both  cases  the  music  revealed  the 
hand  of  a  master. 

The  exquisite  nocturne,  played  while  the  sol- 
diers are  asleep,  and  the  love-episode  in  the  first 
part,  make  an  effective  contrast  to  the  "melodies 
frene'tiques  et  tumultueuses"  (as  Alfred  Bruneau 
called  them)  of  the  rest  of  the  score. 

Jules  Claretie's  story,  La  Cigarette,  was  the 
source  from  which  Henri  Cain  obtained  the 
material  for  the  libretto  of  this  opera.  He  was 
accused  of  making  the  heroine  the  central  figure 
instead  of  the  hero,  but  that  was  done  because 
the  opera  was  admittedly  written  to  give  Emma 
Calve"  another  opportunity  to  reveal  her  rare 
gifts  of  dramatic  impersonation.  All  who  were 


1 76    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

privileged  to  see  her  in  this  rdle  remember  how 
charmingly  she  sang  Vierge  trbs-bonne,  and  the 
few  other  melodious  phrases  assigned  to  her; 
but  what  held  one  spellbound  was  the  emotional 
realism  of  her  action  and  facial  expression.  To 
say  where  she  was  at  her  best  would  be  to  tell 
the  whole  story  again,  to  the  harrowing  shrieks 
of  maniacal  laughter  when  she  hears  the  tolling 
for  the  dead  general  and  thinks  it  is  her  wedding 
bells. 

The  cast  at  the  London  premiere  of  La  Navar- 
raise,  in  1894,  was  exceptionally  strong;  it 
included,  besides  Calve",  Alvarez,  Gilibert,  Plan- 
con,  Bonnard,  Dufriche. 


Copyright  l>u  Davis  <*•  Eickemet/er,  \.  Y. 

CHARLES   GILIBERT 


VI 
THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS 


VI 

THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS 

LA  GRAND'  XANTE 

A  HOLDER  of  the  Prix  de  Rome,  Mas- 
senet had  a  right  to  be  heard  on  the 
operatic  stage.  The  directors  of  the 
Opdra-Comique,  Ritt  and  Leuven,  provided  him 
with  a  libretto  by  J.  Adenis  and  Ch.  Granvallet, 
entitled  Alice.  This  name  was  changed  to  La 
Grand'  Tante  ;  Massenet  set  to  work  on  it  indus- 
triously, and  soon  was  able  to  dedicate  his  com- 
pleted score  to  his  esteemed  teacher,  Ambroise 
Thomas. 

The  first  performance  was  on  the  3d  of 
April,  1867,  and  was  followed  by  sixteen  others — 
not  a  bad  record  for  a  beginner.  To  be  sure, 
the  work  had  the  advantage  of  being  sung  by  two 
prominent  artists — Mile.  Heilbronn  and  Victor 
Capoul — besides  Mile.  Giraud. 

The  story  of  the  one-act  opera  is  a  trifle  light 
as  air.  The  Marquis  de  Kerdrel  returns  from 
Africa,  where  he  has  served  in  the  army  as 
179 


i8o    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

quartermaster,  to  inherit  the  estate  of  his  grand- 
uncle.  He  meets  his  grand-aunt,  Alice,  falls  in 
love  with  her  at  sight,  and  offers  her  his  hand 
and  heart;  which  is  not  so  strange  as  it  seems, 
for  she  is  pretty,  and  only  twenty  years  old. 
Complications  arise  through  the  discovery  of  a 
will  hi  which  the  grand-uncle  disinherits  de 
Kerdrel  and  leaves  everything  to  Alice;  but  it 
is  not  signed.  A  contest  of  generosity  ensues. 
He  goes  so  far  as  to  counterfeit  the  signature, 
while  she  tears  up  the  document.  The  upshot  is, 
of  course,  a  wedding. 

Though  this  subject  was  better  suited  for 
farce  than  for  opera,  Massenet  made  so  much  of 
it  that  the  critics  paid  him  some  encouraging 
compliments. 

Cle'ment  wrote:  "The  music  is  well  written 
and  interesting;  it  gives  evidence  of  thorough 
study."  Gustave  Bertrand  found  that  the  young 
composer  did  not  treat  the  voice  as  skilfully  as 
the  instruments,  and  that  he  was  more  success- 
ful in  the  slow  than  in  the  fast  movements. 
The  eminent  Ernest  Reyer  expressed  this  opinion: 
"I  have  found  in  this  brief  act  excellent  melodic 
gifts,  great  skill  in  the  use  of  the  orchestra, 
couplets  full  of  swing  and  fire";  while  the  no  less 
famous  J.  Weber  wrote:  "The  score  of  M. 
Massenet  is  not  only  written  with  that  skill  which 


THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS      181 

we  have  previously  noted  [in  his  concert  pieces], 
but  he  aims  at  real  comic  effects  instead  of  the 
mere  sprightliness  of  dance  music;  his  melodies 
are  individual,  pleasing,  and  spontaneous." 

Still  another  critic,  Eugene  Tarbe,  was  struck 
by  the  fact  that  Massenet  seemed  to  know 
instinctively  how  to  write  for  the  stage  ("la 
science  de  la  scene"),  which  others  acquire  only 
through  much  experience. 

DON  CESAR  DE  BAZAN 

In  the  list  of  Massenet's  operas  Don  Cesar  de 
Bazan  is  always  named  as  the  second.  Actually, 
the  second  opera  he  wrote  was  La  Coupe  du 
roi  de  Thule  (The  Cup  of  the  King  of  Thule), 
but  it  was  never  performed. 

In  the  year  1869  a  libretto  with  that  name  was 
given  to  all  composers  who  wished  to  take  part 
in  a  competition  announced  by  the  Ministere  des 
Beaux  Arts,  which  promised  to  stage  the  suc- 
cessful score  at  the  Ope'ra.  Massenet  secured  a 
copy  of  this  libretto,  the  authors  of  which  were 
L.  Gallet  and  Ed.  Blau,  and  in  due  course  of 
time  sent  in  his  manuscript. 

Forty-one  other  composers  competed  for  the 
prize,  and  the  winner  was  Eugene  Diaz.  The 
jury,  in  their  report,  said  it  was  only  just  to 


182     MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

mention  four  other  scores  which,  for  one  reason 
or  another,  had  come  nearest  in  merit  to  the  one 
chosen;  and  of  these,  by  an  almost  unanimous 
vote,  the  first  was  Massenet's. 

Concerning  it  the  jury  remarked:  "From  a 
musical  point  of  view,  a  most  notable  work, 
penned  evidently  by  a  thorough  musician.  From 
the  scenic  point  of  view,  it  seemed  very  defective. 
The  writer  doubtless  followed  a  high  ideal,  but 
one  which  seemed  incompatible  with  theatrical 
exigencies." 

Apparently  Massenet  shared  the  opinion  that 
the  music  in  itself  was  superior  to  the  opera,  for 
he  dismembered  it  and  transferred  the  best  num- 
bers in  it  to  several  other  works,  especially  Les 
Erynnies  and  Le  Roi  de  Lahore,  the  third  and 
best  act  of  which  was,  as  Georges  Servieres 
states,  transferred  "  textuellement "  from  La 
coupe  du  roi  de  Thule. 

In  1872  the  composer,  Jules  Duprato,  under- 
took to  set  to  music  a  libretto  by  d'Ennery, 
Dumanoir,  and  Chantepie,  entitled  Don  Cesar 
de  Bazan.  It  was  to  be  produced  at  the  Ope"ra, 
but  the  composer  discovered  that  he  was  not 
in  sympathy  with  the  subject,  and  abandoned  it. 
In  this  emergency  an  appeal  was  made  to  Mas- 
senet, who  consented  and  wrote  the  score  in  the 
short  time  of  six  weeks. 


THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS      183 

Don  Ce*sar  is  a  Spanish  grandee  in  reduced 
circumstances,  who  is  to  be  executed  for  having 
fought  with  an  officer  at  a  time  when,  by  a 
royal  edict,  all  duelling  had  been  forbidden  on 
penalty  of  death.  In  prison  he  is  visited  by  an 
old  friend,  Don  Jose*  de  Santarem,  now  Prime 
Minister  of  Spain,  who  is  in  love  with  the  Queen. 
She  has  refused  to  listen  to  him  except  by  way  of 
retaliation  in  case  the  King  should  make  love  to 
another  woman.  The  King  has  become  infat- 
uated with  a  street  singer  named  Maritana, 
but  cannot  make  her  his  mistress  unless  she 
becomes  a  court  lady.  To  make  her  one,  Don 
Jose  proposes  that  Don  Ce"sar  should  marry  her, 
promising  him  that  in  that  case  he  will  enable 
him  to  save  his  life  by  escaping  immediately 
after  the  ceremony.  Don  Ce*sar  consents;  the 
Minister  does  not  keep  his  promise,  but  the 
prisoner  nevertheless  escapes,  with  the  aid  of  a 
boy,  Lazarille,  whom  he  had  befriended.  In 
course  of  time,  Don  Ce"sar  appears  again  at 
court,  where  his  wife,  in  the  meantime,  has 
checked  the  King's  advances.  He  tells  His 
Majesty  that  the  Prime  Minister  has  been  making 
love  to  the  Queen  and  that  he  has  killed  him, 
to  avenge  the  royal  honour;  whereupon  the 
grateful  monarch  makes  him  Governor  of 
Granada. 


184    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

Had  Massenet  been  as  old  as  Duprato,  he, 
also,  would  probably  have  refused  to  write  music 
to  such  a  silly  story.  But  he  was  only  thirty, 
and  at  that  age  nothing  seems  impossible  to  an 
ambitious  man.  However,  he  could  hardly  do 
himself  justice  in  composing  four  acts  in  six 
weeks.  The  fourth,  particularly,  shows  the 
effect  of  undue  haste.  Critical  opinion  was 
divided.  Cle"ment  declared  that  the  music  was 
symphonic  rather  than  dramatic,  and  other  con- 
servative judges  scented  Wagnerian  influences, 
though  his  real  model,  as  Hugues  Imbert  inti- 
mates, was  Gounod. 

Georges  Servieres  mentions  the  best  numbers 
in  the  score:  a  short  march  played  as  an  inter- 
lude in  the  second  act,  a  melodious  berceuse 
sung  by  Lazarille,  which  had  to  be  repeated, 
a  dainty  madrigal,  a  sevillana  played  as  an 
entr'acte — which  won  a  general  popularity  that 
has  not  waned  yet — an  arietta  of  Lazarille, 
"the  rhythm  of  which  recalled  the  chanson  du 
Passant." 

The  first  performance  was  at  the  Ope'ra- 
Comique  on  November  30,  1872.  Altogether 
it  was  given  eight  times  that  year,  and  five  times 
in  1873.  The  score  having  been  destroyed  by 
the  burning  of  this  theatre,  Massenet  rewrote  it, 
and  revised  the  orchestration  in  1888.  In  Paris 


THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS      185 

the  opera  has  never  been  revived,  but  it  has  been 
sung  in  provincial  cities,  and  in  1896  it  was  given 
in  Brussels,  with  Gilibert  in  the  cast.  The 
original  cast  in  Paris  included  Bouhy  as  Don 
Ce*sar,  Lherie  as  Charles  II,  Neveu  as  Don 
Jose",  Bernard  as  the  Captain,  Priola  as  Maritana, 
and  Galli-Marie  as  Lazarille. 


LE  ROI  DE  LAHORE 

When  Massenet's  third  opera  was  produced 
in  Paris,  on  April  27,  1877,  it  was  considered  a 
quite  remarkable  thing  that  one  so  young  (he 
was  thirty-five)  not  only  succeeded  in  getting 
an  elaborate  work  in  five  acts  accepted  for  the 
Ope'ra,  but  in  whining  for  it  popular  favour. 
This  opera  was  The  King  of  Lahore.  It  is  based 
on  a  story  taken  by  Louis  Gallet  from  the  Hindu 
Mahabharata.  The  principal  characters  are  King 
Alim,  his  Minister  and  cousin  Scindia,  whose 
niece  Sita  is  a  priestess  in  the  temple  of  Indra, 
of  which  Timour  is  the  high  priest. 

Scindia,  in  the  first  scene,  which  is  placed  in 
the  temple,  informs  Timour  that  he  has  fallen 
in  love  with  Sita  and  begs  him  to  absolve  her 
of  her  vow  of  celibacy.  When  the  high  priest 
refuses  this,  Scindia  informs  him  of  a  rumour 
that  Sita  has  an  unknown  lover,  who  visits  her  in 


i86    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

the  temple.  Timour,  enraged,  promises  to  inves- 
tigate the  matter. 

The  scene  changes  to  the  inner  sanctuary  of 
the  temple.  Scindia  talks  with  Sita  and  per- 
suades her  to  tell  of  her  visitor.  She  admits 
that  there  is  one,  who  comes  at  the  hour  of 
prayer — whether  he  is  human  or  divine,  she- 
knows  not.  Furious  at  hearing  the  rumour  thus 
confirmed  by  her  own  lips  he  tries  to  persuade 
her  to  be  his,  and  on  her  refusing,  he  strikes  the 
gong  and,  summoning  Timour  and  the  other 
priests,  denounces  Sita  for  having  a  sacrilegious 
love  affair.  "Let  her  expiate  her  crime  with  her 
life,"  the  priests  shout.  At  that  moment  the 
"unknown"  enters,  exclaiming :  "No!  She 
belongs  to  me!  Let  her  live."  It  is  King  Alim 
himself;  yet  Timour  denounces  his  love  as  a 
crime — a  crime  which  he  must  expiate  by  leading 
an  army  against  the  Mohammedans,  who  have 
invaded  India.  Sita  may  go  with  him.  White 
with  rage  at  this  turn  of  affairs,  Scindia  vows  he 
will  end  the  King's  career. 

The  desert  of  Thol  is  the  scene  of  the  second 
act.  The  noise  of  a  battle  comes  from  the  dis- 
tance. Alim's  forces  have  been  routed,  and  he 
himself  appears,  mortally  wounded  by  Scindia, 
who  succeeds  in  making  the  soldiers  accept  him 
as  the  successor  of  the  King,  who  is  left  dying, 


THE  LESS   KNOWN   OPERAS      187 

deserted  by  all  but  Sita.  After  he  has  breathed 
his  last,  soldiers  return  and  carry  her  off,  by  order 
of  Scindia. 

A  vision  of  the  Hindu  paradise  is  presented  in 
the  next  act.  In  the  midst  of  all  the  splendours 
and  delights  that  the  Oriental  imagination  can  con- 
ceive, the  latest  arrival,  Alim,  alone  is  unhappy. 
The  God  Indra  asks  him  the  cause  of  his  melan- 
choly, whereupon  Alim  tells  of  his  love  for  Sita 
and  begs  to  be  allowed  to  return  to  earth.  Indra 
grants  the  request  with  the  understanding  that  he 
is  to  cease  living  again  the  moment  she  dies. 

In  the  fourth  act  he  is  back  in  Lahore  in  time 
to  witness  the  coronation  of  Scindia,  who  looks 
on  him  with  horror  as  an  avenging  spectre. 
But  when  Alim  claims  Sita,  who  is  about  to  be 
married  to  Scindia,  as  his  own,  he  is  taken  for 
a  madman.  Scindia  orders  him  to  be  put  to 
death,  but  the  high  priest  interferes.  In  the 
last  act  Sita  seeks  refuge  in  the  temple  to 
escape  from  the  attentions  of  the  hated  Scindia. 
Timour  permits  Alim  to  join  her,  and  once 
more  the  lovers  are  "imparadised  in  one 
another's  arms."  Their  plan  to  escape  is 
frustrated  by  the  arrival  of  Scindia.  Seizing  a 
dagger,  Sita  stabs  herself  and  at  the  same  instant 
Alim  falls  dead. 

While  some  of  the  critics  held  the  brilliant 


i88     MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

spectacle  of  the  Indian  Paradise,  with  its  gor- 
geous scenery  and  the  voluptuous  dances,  respon- 
sible for  the  thirty  performances  attained  by  this 
opera  in  its  first  year,  others  admitted  that 
Massenet's  music  had  much  to  do  with  its  success; 
and  with  this  opera  he  established  his  claims  to 
being  one  of  the  composers  to  be  reckoned  with 
thenceforth  by  the  managers;  all  the  more  when 
the  Parisian  success  was  duplicated  in  various 
cities  of  Italy  and  Germany,  as  well  as  in 
London. 

Among  the  numbers  and  features  specially 
praised  were  the  overture,  the  dramatic  intro- 
duction to  the  second  act,  the  clever  use  made 
of  a  Hindu  tune,  with  other  touches  of  exotic 
colouring,  the  marche  celeste,  the  chorus  of 
priestesses,  several  effective  ensembles,  and,  above 
all,  the  romance  for  baritone,  in  the  fourth  act, 
which  Lassalle  (Scindia)  sang  incomparably,  and 
which  soon  became  a  favourite  also  in  the  con- 
cert-halls. Associated  with  him  in  the  cast  was 
Josephine  de  Reszke  (sister  of  the  famous  Jean 
and  Edouard),  whose  beautiful  singing  (Sita)  was 
much  admired. 

Servieres  declares  that  thirty  performances  of 
a  work  of  such  merit  were  not  enough,  and  he 
intimates  that  it  was  the  influence  of  hostile 
criticisms  on  the  public  which  prevented  it  from 


THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS      189 

having  more.  "  It  was  at  that  time  the  fashion  to 
say  that  Massenet  could  not  write  for  the  theatre 
and  that  the  Roi  de  Lahore  was  an  oratorio. 
This  opera,  like  Carmen,  had  to  make  the  tour 
of  Europe  before  the  frequenters  of  the  Ope*ra 
made  up  their  minds  to  acknowledge  its  worth." 

In  its  Italian  version  it  was  produced  success- 
fully in  Turin,  Rome,  Bologna,  Venice,  Trieste, 
Pisa,  Milan,  Genoa,  Pesth,  Munich,  Dresden, 
Madrid,  and  London.  This  Italian  version  is 
more  complete  than  the  original  French  produc- 
tion; in  the  second  act  there  is  a  serenade  for 
Kaled,  and  in  the  fourth  a  scene  which  makes 
it  clear  how  Sita  was  able  to  return  to  the  temple. 
In  April,  1879,  the  Ope*ra  revived  the  opera, 
with  brilliant  success,  its  foreign  triumphs  having 
made  an  impression  on  the  Parisian  public  and 
critics.* 

Among  those  who  heard  this  opera  at  its 
revival  in  1879  was  Tchaikovsky,  who  liked  it  so 
much  that  he  bought  the  score  and  wrote  to 
Mme.  von  Meek:  "I  know  you  do  not  care  very 
much  for  Massenet,  and  hitherto  I,  too,  have  not 
felt  drawn  to  him.  His  opera,  however,  has  capti- 

*  In  the  opinion  of  Arthur  Hervey  Le  Roi  de  Lahore  "  remains, 
perhaps,  the  best  opera  that  Massenet  has  composed  for  the 
Paris  Ope'ra."  "It  is  more  spontaneous  than  either  Le  Cid 
or  Le  Afage,  and  contains  many  portions  of  great  excellence. " 


190     MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

vated  me  by  its  rare  beauty  of  form,  its  simplicity 
and  freshness  of  ideas  and  style,  as  well  as  by  its 
wealth  of  melody  and  distinction  of  harmony." 
Comparing  its  love  duet  with  that  in  Goldmark's 
Queen  ofSheba,  he  declares  that  Massenet's  "is 
far  simpler,  but  a  thousand  times  fresher,  more 
beautiful,  more  melodious." 

ESCLARMONDE 

None  of  Massenet's  operas  had  a  greater 
immediate  success,  or  called  forth  more  dis- 
cussion hi  the  press,  than  Esdarmonde. 

For  the  year  of  the  Paris  Exposition  of  1889 
the  managers  of  the  Opera-Comique  wanted  to 
stage  a  new  work  by  him.  As  related  in  the 
chapter  on  Werther,  they  suggested  that  opera; 
but  Massenet  preferred  to  give  them  Esdarmonde, 
partly  because  of  the  greater  opportunities  it 
provided  for  brilliant  scenic  display,  partly 
because  he  had  enthusiastic  confidence  hi  the 
vocal  and  personal  charms  of  Sibyl  Sanderson, 
for  whom  the  title  role  was  written. 

Esdarmonde  is  the  young  and  ravishingly 
beautiful  daughter  of  Phorcas,  the  Emperor  of 
Byzantium,  who  possesses  magical  gifts.  In  the 
prologue,  having  assembled  his  courtiers  and 
warriors,  he  announces  that  it  is  time  for  him  to 


THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS      191 

abdicate  in  favour  of  Esclarmonde,  who  also 
wields  supernatural  power.  But  to  preserve  this 
power  it  is  essential  that  her  face  should  remain 
veiled  until  she  is  twenty.  On  the  day  when  she 
reaches  that  age  she  is  to  be  the  bride  of  the 
victor  in  a  tournament  to  be  held  at  Byzantium. 

On  a  terrace  of  the  palace,  overlooking  the  sea, 
we  find  Esclarmonde  in  the  first  act,  longing  for 
Roland,  Count  de  Blois,  with  whom  she  had  fallen 
in  love  at  first  sight.  Her  sister,  Parsers,  asks  her 
why  she  does  not  use  her  magic  arts  to  bring 
him  to  her.  At  that  moment  arrives  Ene*as,  the 
betrothed  of  Parsers,  who  relates  that  the  King 
Cteomer  has  made  up  his  mind  to  offer  his 
daughter's  hand  to  Roland.  Stung  by  jealousy, 
Esclarmonde  decides  to  take  immediate  action. 
Obedient  to  her  incantation,  the  spirits  find 
Roland,  and  we  see  him  hunting  in  the  forest  of 
Ardennes;  then  he  boards  a  vessel  which  is  to 
take  him  to  a  magic  island  where  Esclarmonde 
will  meet  him  and  be  his  love. 

This  enchanted  island  is  the  scene  of  the 
second  act.  Roland  has  fallen  asleep  among  the 
flowers,  surrounded  by  dancing  fairies.  He  is 
awakened  by  a  kiss  from  the  lips  of  Esclarmonde, 
and  soon  the  two  exchange  vows  of  eternal  love. 
In  the  following  scene,  placed  in  a  room  of  the 
magic  palace,  Roland  promises  never  to  reveal 


1 92     MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

their  secret  union.  It  is  his  duty  to  leave  her  for 
a  time,  to  help  King  Cl^omer,  who  is  besieged  at 
Blois  by  the  Saracens;  but  Esclarmonde  con- 
soles him  with  the  promise  to  be  with  him  every 
night,  wherever  he  may  be. 

The  siege  of  Blois  is  shown  in  the  third  act.  A 
tribute  of  a  hundred  virgins  is  demanded  by  the 
Saracen  King  Sarwe*gur.  "Who  will  deliver 
us  from  this  enemy?"  exclaims  the  King.  "I 
will!"  retorts  Roland,  emerging  from  the  crowd. 
He  challenges  Sarwe'gur  to  single  combat,  and, 
armed  with  a  magic  sword,  given  him  by  Esclar- 
monde, wins  an  easy  victory. 

King  Cldomer  offers  him  his  daughter's  hand 
as  a  reward,  but  he  declines,  yet  is  unable  to 
explain  why,  because  he  must  keep  his  promise 
to  Esclarmonde.  The  Bishop  of  Blois  thereupon 
undertakes  to  clear  up  the  mystery.  Summon- 
ing the  hero  to  the  confessional,  he  compels  him 
with  threats  of  eternal  punishment  to  reveal  his 
secret,  whereupon  he  inveighs  against  his  sinful 
love  for  a  sorceress.  Roland  begs  for  absolution. 
A  moment  after  the  bishop  has  left,  the  voice  of 
Esclarmonde  is  heard  and  Roland  prepares  joy- 
ously to  greet  her;  but  at  that  moment  the  bishop 
returns,  with  a  number  of  monks.  Tearing  away 
Esclarmonde's  veil,  he  orders  her  to  be  seized; 
but  the  spirits  carry  her  off  after  she  has 


THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS      193 

reproached     Roland    for     having    broken    his 
vow. 

In  the  fourth  act  the  scenery  represents  the 
depths  of  the  forest  of  Ardennes,  to  which  Phorcas 
has  retired.  A  herald  announces  that  the  winner 
at  the  coming  tournament  shall  succeed  Phorcas 
on  the  throne  as  well  as  marry  his  daughter.  But 
where  is  Esclarmonde?  Phorcas  finds  out  from 
Parsers  and  Endas  that  she  has  left  Constanti- 
nople to  search  for  Roland.  Angrily,  he  calls 
upon  the  spirits  to  bring  her  before  him.  When 
she  comes,  he  tells  her  that  either  she  must 
renounce  her  lover  or  he  must  die.  She  decides 
to  save  him  at  all  costs.  When  he  appears  she 
tells  him  she  can  love  him  no  more,  and  van- 
ishes. Death  alone  seems  desirable  after  this 
calamity,  and  when  the  herald  appears  again  to 
proclaim  the  tournament,  he  resolves  to  seek 
it  by  entering  the  lists. 

An  epilogue  takes  us  back  to  Byzantium. 
Richly  attired,  Esclarmonde  appears  in  presence 
of  Phorcas  and  his  court,  and  soon  the  victor 
in  the  tournament  is  brought  in,  with  lowered 
visor.  It  is  Roland;  he  refuses  the  offer  of  the 
princess's  hand,  not  knowing  that  it  is  Esclar- 
monde, but  when  she  removes  her  veil,  he  is 
overcome  with  emotion  and  loudly  proclaims  his 
adoration  of  his  imperial  bride. 
13 


194    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

Esclarmonde  is  Massenet's  Wagnerian  con- 
fession of  faith;  in  it  he  follows  the  Bayreuth 
master  in  choosing  a  legendary  subject,  in  which 
the  supernatural  plays  a  prominent  part,  and  in 
making  free  use  of  the  principle  of  reminiscent 
or  leading  motives.  "One  might  define  Esclar- 
monde" wrote  Camille  Bellaigue,  "as  at  the 
same  time  a  small  French  Tristan  and  a  small 
French  Parsifal."  As  V.  Wilder  put  it:  "In  the 
third  scene,  on  the  enchanted  island,  the  pre- 
vailing reminiscence  is  of  Parsifal,  but  a  Parsifal 
who  would  transform  himself  into  Tristan  to  sing, 
with  the  beloved,  the  passionate  duo  of  the 
nuptial  night."  Wagnerian  instruments  (bass, 
clarinet,  and  contrabassoon)  are  used  in  the  score, 
and  overwhelming  effects  of  orchestral  sonority 
indulged  in,  as  in  the  scene  where  the  ramparts 
are  destroyed,  the  landscape  is  devoured  by 
flames,  and  the  people  lament  the  misfortunes  of 
the  besieged  city.  But,  as  Ernest  Reyer  wrote: 
"Who  could  find  fault  with  this  loosening  of  all 
the  orchestral  forces  and  say  that  the  situation 
does  not  call  for  it  ?  " 

Like  the  second  act  of  Tristan,  the  second 
of  Esclarmonde  is  a  lava  stream  of  passion,  but 
with  a  difference.  "Jamais,  je  crois,"  wrote 
Camille  Bellaigue,  "on  n'avait  encore  fait  une 
description  sonore  aussi  fidele,  aussi  detaille"e 


THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS      195 

de  la  manifestation  physique  des  tendresses 
humaines.  (Vous  voyez  que  je  tache  de  m'ex- 
primer  convenablement.)  Tout  est  note*  et 
gradue";  les  violons  commencent  doucement;  puis 
les  altos  arrivent  k  la  rescousse,  puis  le  quatuor, 
les  sonorite's  s'enflent,  le  mouvement  se  pre*cipite 
et  le  tout  aboutit  k  un  dclat  gdneYal  et  terrible- 
ment  significatif." 

The  insight  into  the  mysteries  of  orchestration 
shown  in  this  score,  the  many  "  ddlicieuses  sur- 
prises" (Reyer),  aroused  the  admiration  of 
public  and  experts  alike.  While  Wagner  was 
the  model,  Massenet's  individuality — which  was 
strong  enough  to  create  a  school  of  its  own — is 
everywhere  manifest.  "No  one,"  says  R.  A. 
Streatfeild,  "could  mistake  Esdarmonde  for  the 
work  of  a  German;  in  melodic  structure  and 
orchestral  colouring  it  is  French  to  the  core." 
And  Adolphe  Jullien,  who  is  far  from  being  a 
partisan,  says  this  opera  "bears  the  composer's 
imprint  on  every  page." 

Massenet  himself,  when  someone  told  him 
that  Les  Erynnies  was  his  master-work,  answered : 
"Wait  till  you  have  seen  Esdarmonde  I1' 

].  Weber  called  it  "one  of  his  best  works"; 
and  Charles  Malherbe  found  it  "  beautiful  because 
sincere ;  into  it  the  composer  did  not  only  put  all 
his  knowledge,  but  all  his  heart." 


io6    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

In  these  days  of  revivals,  such  an  opera  should 
not  be  overlooked.* 

The  premiere  was  on  May  15,  1889,  and  by 
the  end  of  the  Exposition,  ninety-nine  per- 
formances had  been  given.  The  original  cast 
included  Sibyl  Sanderson  as  Esclarmonde,  Gibert 
as  Roland,  Taskin  as  Phorcas.  The  librettists 
were  Alfred  Blau  and  Louis  de  Gramont.  The 
work  is  entitled  an  "  Ope'ra  Romanesque." 

LE  MAGE 

Marion  Crawford's  novel,  Zoroaster,  seems 
to  have  suggested  this  opera.  At  any  rate,  that 
eminent  American  novelist  accused  Jean  Richepin 
— one  of  the  several  famous  French  men  of  letters 
whose  co-operation  Massenet  succeeded  in  secur- 
ing as  librettist — of  having  stolen  his  thunder. 
As  The  Magian  is  not  an  opera  now  in  vogue,  it 
is  hardly  worth  while  to  discuss  this  point,  or  to 
try  to  ascertain  whether  it  was  Massenet's  pupil, 
Xavier  Leroux,  or  his  publisher,  Hartmann,  or 
his  collaborator,  Richepin,  who  suggested  this 
subject  to  him.  Suffice  it  to  indicate  the  out- 
lines of  the  story,  as  set  to  music. 

*  Detailed  analyses  of  it  may  be  found  in  the  books  of 
Imbert  and  Jullien,  and  in  Le  Monde  Artiste,  July  2,  1889 
(Charles  Malherbe). 


THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS      197 

Its  hero  is  the  sage  Zarastra,  better  known  as 
Zoroaster.  As  general  of  the  Persian  army  he 
has  vanquished  the  Touranians  and  captured 
their  beautiful  queen,  Anahita;  he  wishes  to 
marry  her  and  asks  the  King's  consent,  which, 
however,  is  not  given  because  Amrou,  the  high 
priest,  declares  that  Zarastra  is  bound  to  another 
by  the  ties  of  love,  this  other  being  his  own 
daughter,  Varedha,  priestess  of  voluptuousness, 
who  swears  that  her  father  speaks  the  truth, 
although  in  reality  the  General  had  rejected  her 
shameless  advances  indignantly. 

Her  infatuation  makes  her,  in  the  second  act, 
follow  Zarastra  to  the  sacred  mountain  to  which 
he  has  fled  in  despair  and  commenced  to  preach 
to  his  first  disciples.  Again  he  repels  her,  where- 
upon she  turns  on  him  with  the  fury  of  a  woman 
scorned  and  tells  him  that  his  beloved,  Anahita, 
has  been  chosen  by  the  King  to  be  his  own  bride. 

It  is  the  truth.  After  the  initiation  of  a  young 
priestess,  Amrou  unites  the  King  with  Anahita. 
But  at  that  moment  there  is  an  attack  on  the 
temple  by  the  Touranians,  who  have  rallied. 
The  temple  is  destroyed,  while  Anahita  chants 
a  war  song.  Varedha  alone  of  the  assembled 
Persians  is  not  killed  outright ;  and  when  Zarastra, 
who  has  returned  to  deplore  the  fall  of  the  temple, 
finds  Anahita  among  the  ruins  and  clasps  her  in 


198     MASSENET  AND   HIS  OPERAS 

his  arms,  the  dissolute  priestess  calls  upon  the 
statue  of  Djahi  to  destroy  them.  Immediately 
the  statue  gives  forth  flames,  which  spread  in 
all  directions,  stopping  the  flight  of  the  lovers; 
but  the  Magian,  in  turn,  calls  upon  Madza,  the 
god  of  fire,  to  put  out  the  flames,  and  then 
escapes  with  his  bride,  while  Varedha  expires 
with  a  cry  of  jealous  rage. 

The  opportunities  for  brilliant  scenic  display 
provided  by  this  plot  were  not  neglected  by 
Ritt  and  Gailhard,  the  directors  of  the  Opera. 
The  premiere  was  on  March  16,  1891;  but 
although  there  were  altogether  thirty-two  per- 
formances that  year,  the  opera  has  not  been 
revived  and  is  considered  one  of  Massenet's 
weaker  productions.  One  critic  suggested  that 
he  wrote  it  in  too  great  a  hurry,  in  order  to 
get  ahead  of  Reyer's  Salamnibd:  another  that 
the  scenic  splendours  crushed  the  music;  a 
third  that  the  librettist  and  the  composer  were 
too  unlike  in  their  tastes  to  play  well  into  each 
other's  hands. 

Servieres,  nevertheless,  finds  not  a  few  things 
to  praise  in  the  score;  Victor  Wilder  wrote  that 
the  music  was  fin  de  sikcle  and  the  melody 
"d'une  exquise  deliquescence."  What  Jullien 
liked  best  in  the  whole  opera  was  the  prayer 
which  the  united  brasses  chant  for  Zarastra  when 


THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS      199 

he  kneels  at  the  foot  of  the  sacred  mountain 
invoking  Ahoura  Madza. 

The  cast  included  Vergnet  as  Zarastra,  Delmas 
as  Amrou,  Fie"rens  as  Varedha,  Lureau-Escalai's 
as  Anahita.  The  conductor  was  Vianesi. 


LE  PORTRAIT  DE  MANON 

Novelists,  after  launching  a  particularly  suc- 
cessful story,  have  frequently  written  a  sequel 
to  it,  in  which  the  same  characters,  or  some  of 
them,  recur.  The  popularity  of  Manon  suggested 
the  writing  of  a  libretto  by  Georges  Boyer,  in 
which  its  hero,  Des  Grieux,  reappears. 

After  the  death  of  Manon  this  chevalier  is 
supposed  to  have  retired  to  a  provincial  chateau, 
there  to  bewail  his  fate.  To  while  away  time 
he  gives  lessons  to  his  nephew  Jean,  Vicomte  de 
Mortcerf.  Jean  is  in  love  with  Aurore,  a  pupil 
of  Des  Grieux' s  friend,  Tiberge.  In  the  opening 
scene  we  see  and  hear  this  pretty  and  lively  girl 
singing  about  the  joys  of  life,  with  a  chorus  of 
peasants  for  a  background. 

Des  Grieux,  alone  in  his  library,  hears  these 
strains,  which  recall  to  him  happy  days  of  his  own 
life.  But  now  all  is  melancholy  and  disenchant- 
ment. His  eyes  are  fixed  on  a  portrait  of  Manon, 
which  he  has  preserved  as  a  precious  souvenir. 


200     MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

His  revery  is  interrupted  by  the  entry  of  Jean, 
whose  heart  bubbles  over  with  love.  The  uncle 
scolds  him.  How  can  he,  a  nobleman,  think  of 
such  a  thing  as  marrying  a  girl  who  has  neither 
family  nor  fortune? 

Tiberge  enters,  and  adds  his  entreaties  to 
Jean's.  But  Des  Grieux  is  inexorable;  he 
remains  deaf  also  to  the  united  supplications 
of  the  lovers.  Left  alone,  Jean  and  Aurore  are 
plunged  into  despair,  and  talk  of  dying  together. 
Then  their  mood  changes,  and  Jean  attempts  to 
catch  the  girl  and  kiss  her.  In  trying  to  elude 
him  she  knocks  down  the  box  in  which  Des 
Grieux  keeps  his  portrait  of  Manon. 

The  sight  of  this  suggests  a  happy  thought  to 
Tiberge,  who  at  that  moment  returns.  He  takes 
Aurore  away,  leaving  Jean  with  his  uncle, 
who,  after  lecturing  him,  sends  him  away  and 
again  contemplates  the  portrait.  Suddenly  there 
appears  before  him  a  young  woman,  dressed 
as  Manon  was  when  she  descended  from  the 
carriage  at  Amiens,  and  otherwise  resembling 
Manon — and  no  wonder,  since  Aurore  (for  she 
it  is)  is  the  daughter  of  Manon' s  brother,  Lescaut. 
But  Des  Grieux  thinks  he  has  seen  an  apparition 
of  the  real  Manon,  till  Tiberge  explains  it  all 
to  him;  whereupon  des  Grieux  relents,  and  the 
lovers  are  made  happy. 


THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS      201 

Musicians  have  the  same  privilege  as  novel- 
ists of  reproducing  motives  from  one  work  in 
another.  Mozart,  in  his  Don  Giovanni,  intro- 
duces an  air  from  his  Figaro;  Wagner,  in  Die 
Meister singer,  cites  two  Tristan  and  Isolde 
motives  when  Hans  Sachs  refers  to  those  lovers; 
and  in  Parsifal,  when  the  swan  is  shot,  we  hear  the 
swan  motive,  first  used  in  Lohengrin.  Massenet, 
therefore,  followed  good  precedents  in  construct- 
ing the  score  of  this  ope*ra-comique  largely  with 
airs  taken  from  his  Manon.  Any  other  proceed- 
ing, in  truth,  would  have  seemed  inappropriate 
and  inartistic. 

"Cleverly,  discreetly,  and  with  much  charm, 
the  composer  evoked  musical  reminiscences  from 
his  Manon  score,"  wrote  Georges  Servieres,  who 
was  by  no  means  a  partisan  of  Massenet.  "  This 
dainty  and  graceful  little  work,"  he  adds,  "was 
praised  by  all."  "This  little  score  (partition- 
ette)  of  M.  Massenet,"  wrote  Victorien  de  Jon- 
cieres,  "is  a  real  jewel,  finely  cut,  of  an  exquisite 
grace";  and  he  mentions  one  of  the  touches  of 
imagination  supplied  by  the  composer:  while 
Jean  recites  for  his  uncle  and  tutor  a  lesson  from 
Roman  history,  the  orchestra  plays  a  light 
"  accompagnement  a  la  forme  scholastique  du 
plus  piquant  effet." 

How  pretty  are  the  diminutives  the  French 


202     MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

have  to  describe  a  light  and  airy  work  like  this 
"bluette!"  "Ouvrette,"  "  partitionette,"  "mu- 
siquette" — the  Spanish  alone  share  with  them 
the  linguistic  chance  to  belittle  a  thing  in  a  com- 
plimentary, admiring  way. 

Le  Portrait  de  Manon — which  comes  between 
Thais  and  La  Navarraise  chronologically — had 
its  first  performance  on  May  8,  1894,  at  the 
Ope'ra-Comique,  with  a  cast  including  Fugere, 
Grivot,  Elven,  and  Mile.  Laisne'.  It  was  given 
fifteen  times  that  year,  and  six  times  in  1895. 

Hugues  Imbert  called  this  comic  opera  "une 
bluette  gracieuse,  plutdt  e*crite  pour  le  salon  que 
pour  le  theatre,"  and  he  thinks  that  Massenet 
may  have  this  kind  of  a  vogue  in  view  for  this 
work.  Too  light  for  most  opera-houses,  it  would 
certainly  seem  to  lend  itself  well  to  amateur  per- 
formances, at  least  in  circles  where  the  story 
of  Manon  Lescaut  is  known. 

CENDRILLON 

Massenet's  fifteenth  work  for  the  theatre  was 
not  an  opera,  but  a  fairy  tale  set  to  music;  "  Conte 
de  Fe"es  en  Quatre  Actes  et  Six  Tableaux,"  is  the 
official  title.  How  did  he  happen  to  bring  out 
this  version  of  Charles  Perrault's  nursery  story? 

It  was  generally   supposed   that  the  extraor- 


THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS      203 

dinary  success  of  Humperdinck's  fairy  tale, 
Hansel  und  Gretel,  had  induced  Massenet  to 
try  his  luck,  too,  with  this  genre  of  opera.  His 
librettist,  however — Henri  Cain — wrote  to  the 
critic,  Adolphe  Jullien,  that  he  and  the  com- 
poser had  dallied  with  this  plot  and  sketched 
their  work  before  Humperdinck  had  launched  his, 
and  that  the  success  of  Hansel  und  Gretel,  far 
from  indicating  to  them  the  path  to  follow, 
came  near  making  them  give  up  Cendrillon  after 
it  had  been  sketched. 

Humperdinck's  opera,  it  may  be  added,  was 
immediately  successful  when  first  produced,  in 
1893,  while  Cendrillon  was  not  given  to  the  world 
till  six  years  later.  It  had  its  first  hearing  in 
Paris  at  the  Ope'ra-Comique,  on  May  24,  1899, 
and  was  applauded  by  the  critics  as  well  as  the 
public.  Albert  Carre",  who  had  been  recently 
appointed  director  of  that  theatre,  staged  it  with 
extraordinary  splendour,  to  show  what  he  could 
do  in  that  direction,  and  it  was  "up  to"  Mas- 
senet, as  we  say  colloquially,  to  provide  a  feast 
for  the  ears  equal  to  the  "plaisirs  des  yeux" 
promised  by  his  manager.  That  he  succeeded, 
was  generally  acknowledged. 

It  is  love  at  first  sight  for  both  Prince  Char- 
mant  and  Cinderella — adorned  by  the  Fairy — 
when  they  meet  at  the  ball.  Subsequently,  alone 


204     MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

at  home,  Cinderella  imagines  she  will  die  during 
the  night  and  says  farewell  to  all  her  belongings. 
Luckily  her  godmother,  the  Fairy,  is  awake. 
Hearing  herself  invoked  at  the  same  moment  by 
both  Cinderella  and  the  lovelorn  Prince,  she 
removes  the  curtain  of  foliage  which  had  pre- 
vented them  from  seeing  each  other,  and  they 
embrace: — both  have  the  same  dream.  In  the 
last  act,  all  the  Princesses  in  the  world  are  called 
together  to  try  on  the  small  slipper  found  at 
the  court-ball.  Cinderella  is  brought  there,  too, 
by  her  Fairy;  and  the  Prince,  recognizing  her 
promptly,  offers  her  his  arm. 

It  must  have  been  a  pleasant  pastime  for 
Massenet,  Jullien  thinks,  to  busy  himself  with 
this  light  poem,  to  exercise  his  skill  and  experi- 
ence in  inventing  music  equally  airy  and  dimin- 
utive; "and  it  is  only  just  to  say  that  he 
succeeded.  This  score  is  one  of  those  in  which 
he  has  shown  the  greatest  suppleness  and  skill, 
without  putting  much  musical  pith  into  it,  but 
lavishing  ingenious  effects  of  rhythm,  odd  con- 
trasts of  colours,  and  enlivening  volumes  of 
sound  whenever  the  attention  is  in  danger  of 
flagging." 

There  are  tender  scenes  of  love,  alternating 
with  comic  episodes;  and  there  are  dances  which 
particularly  pleased  this  critic.  "It  seems  to 


THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS      205 

me,"  he  adds,  "that  the  most  graceful  passage 
in  the  whole  world  is  probably  the  tender  declara- 
tion of  Cendrillon:  'You  are  my  Prince  Char- 
mant,'  where  the  oboe  repeats,  bar  by  bar,  with 
intense  sweetness,  what  the  voice  has  just  sung." 

Effective  also  is  the  grand  march  in  which  the 
most  diverse  instruments,  among  them  fifes,  gongs, 
castanets,  are  called  into  play  to  announce  the 
princesses  from  all  parts  of  the  world. 

Louis  Schneider  declares  that  Massenet 
"dusted  the  tale  of  Perrault  and  the  libretto  of 
Henri  Cain  with  a  fine  powder  of  sounds." 
He  was  particularly  impressed  by  the  skill  dis- 
played in  evoking  the  spirit  of  another  age. 
"Massenet  has  given  to  his  imitations  the  stilted 
grace  and  the  deliberate  simplicity  of  the  dances 
of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIII,  which  he  has  suc- 
ceeded in  reviving:  the  minuet  of  Madame  de 
la  Haltiere,  the  concert  at  the  King's  with  its 
odd  modulations;  the  entry  of  the  daughters  of 
the  nobility,  so  original;  that  of  the  fiance's, 
accompanied  by  the  oboes  in  thirds;  that  of 
Mandores,  with  delicious  rhythms;  the  Floren- 
tine, and  finally  the  Rigaudon — all  this  is  like 
bringing  back  to  life  the  colours  of  that  time; 
it  means  a  power  of  penetration,  a  sharpness 
of  vision  which  pierces  the  ages — hi  a  word, 
a  skill  that  borders  on  the  marvellous." 


2o6    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

The  parts  of  Cendrillon  and  Prince  Char- 
mant  at  the  premiere  in  Paris  were  taken  by 
Miles.  Giraudon  and  Emelen.* 

CH£RUBIN 

Although  Massenet's  seventeenth  opera,  ChS- 
rubin,  is  not  considered  one  of  his  master-works, 
it  is  possible  that  Oscar  Hammerstein  might  have 
produced  it  had  his  Manhattan  opera  seasons 
continued  another  year  or  two.  He  had  among 
his  singers  three  of  the  artists  who  helped  to 
create  this  work  when  it  was  first  given,  on 
February  14,  1905,  at  Monte  Carlo,  under  the 
direction  of  Raoul  Gunsbourg,  who  is  always 
on  the  lookout  for  novelties.  These  artists  were 
Mary  Garden,  Lina  Cavalieri,  and  Maurice 
Renaud.f 

*Jullien  in  his  Musiciens  D'Hier  et  D'Aujourd'hui,  p.  311, 
mentions  four  composers  who  previously  to  Massenet  had 
written  operas  on  this  subject;  one  of  them  was  by  Rossini, 
and  it  was  less  appreciated  in  Italy  (1817)  than  in  Paris  (1822). 

f  Mary  Garden  impersonated  the  title  r61e  also  at  the  Pa- 
risian premiere,  on  May  23  of  the  same  year.  The  part  of 
the  Spanish  dancer,  L'Ensoleillad,  which  Lina  Cavalieri 
had  at  Monte  Carlo,  was  taken  in  Paris  by  Mme.  Vallandri; 
nor  did  the  Parisians  enjoy  the  privilege  of  seeing  M.  Renaud 
as  Le  Philosophe,  that  part  being  assumed  at  the  Ope"ra- 
Comique  by  M.  Fugere.  Marguerite  Carre"  was  the  Nina 
at  both  the  premieres. 


Copyright  by  Daris  it  Ricktmryer,  N,  Y. 

LINA  CAVALIERI 


THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS      207 

The  story  of  how  this  opera  came  to  be  written 
is  curious.  A  play  of  the  same  name  had  been 
accepted  for  performance  at  the  Come'die- 
Francaise;  but  after  the  dress  rehearsal  its  author, 
Francis  de  Croisset,  withdrew  it,  and  the  public 
never  had  a  chance  to  hear  it.  To  Massenet, 
who  happened  to  be  present  at  that  rehearsal, 
the  little  play  seemed  well  adapted  for  operatic 
purposes,  and  so  he  asked  M.  de  Croisset  for 
permission  to  set  it  to  music.  The  playwright, 
surprised  and  pleased,  sought  counsel  with  the 
expert,  Henri  Cam,  and  together  they  put  the 
verses  into  shape  for  the  composer,  who  fell 
upon  his  task  with  his  usual  avidity  and  soon  had 
it  completed. 

One  day,  so  Jullien  relates,  some  one  expressed 
astonishment  to  Massenet  at  his  ability  to  work 
twelve  or  fourteen  hours  a  day.  "Mais  oui, 
mais  oui,"  replied  the  composer,  "that  often  hap- 
pens. I  worked  at  Chtrubin,  which  I  have  just 
completed,  two  hundred  and  ten  hours  at  a 
stretch,  with  no  break  except  the  time  needed 
for  meals  and  sleep.  When  I  take  up  such  a 
task,  I  do  not  know  what  fatigue  means." 

Che*rubin  is  supposed  to  be  the  same  youngster 
as  the  Cherubino  who,  in  the  Marriage  of  Figaro 
of  Beaumarchais  and  Mozart,  does  so  much 
mischief.  He  is  but  seventeen  in  the  French- 


208     MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

man's  opera,  yet  his  good  looks  and  audacity 
make  him  a  veritable  Don  Juan.  It  is  hardly 
worth  while  to  relate  in  detail  his  exploits  as  a 
lady  killer  and  duellist.  His  most  interesting 
affair  is  with  the  Spanish  dancer,  PEnsoleillad, 
who  has  been  sent  for  by  the  King,  but  stops  to 
dally  with  him.  The  good  advice  of  his  friend, 
the  Philosopher,  is  wasted,  as  usual.  Yet  in 
the  end  he  reforms  and  marries  the  young  and 
broken-hearted  Nina,  when  she  is  about  to  enter 
a  convent. 

As  frothy  as  this  play  is  the  music  written  for 
it.  It  is  tuneful,  and  some  of  the  tunes  are 
associated  with  the  several  characters,  after  the 
fashion  of  leading  motives.  The  episode  of  the 
Spanish  dancer  gives  special  occasion  for  some 
exotic  colouring,  and  at  the  end  there  is  a  delib- 
erate musical  allusion  to  the  serenade  in  Don 
Giovanni,  which  the  critics  pronounced  a  clever 
stroke. 

To  Schneider  this  "come'die  chante*e,"  as  it 
is  called  on  the  title-page,  seems  "like  a  Wat- 
teau  darkened  under  Andalusian  skies."  Jullien 
feels  disinclined  to  place  it  in  the  first  rank  of 
Massenet's  works,  or  even  the  second.  "On 
leaving  the  theatre,"  he  writes,  "when  this 
froth  of  sound  has  subsided,  one  feels  a  trifle 
embarrassed  at  having  allowed  one's  self  to  be 


THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS      209 

so  carried  away;  and  if  one  wishes  to  probe 
to  the  core  this  dazzling,  shimmering  music, 
it  is  easy  to  see  that  there  is  in  it  little  substance 
and  novelty.  But  when  the  curtain  goes  up 
again  we  promptly  come  under  its  spell  once 
more,  and  again  we  feel  the  lively  attractive- 
ness of  this  fresh  and  sparkling  music.  A  great 
magician,  in  truth,  is  the  composer  of  Cherubin" 
Concerning  Mary  Garden,  the  same  eminent 
critic  wrote:  "She  is  Che*rubin  himself,  in  flesh 
and  bones;  she  was  the  joy  and  delight  of  the 
evening.  By  reason  of  her  slenderaess  and 
agility,  her  easy  and  graceful  manner,  with  her 
innocent  airs  of  conquest  and  her  naive  mien  of 
vexation,  she  is  truly  the  irresistible  youth  in 
whose  presence  all  hearts  surrender.  And  to 
think  that  M.  de  Croisset,  only  the  day  before, 
insisted  that  his  Che'rubin  should  not  be  played 
by  a  woman!  His,  perhaps;  but  not  that  of  M. 
Massenet." 

ARIANE 

From  the  beginning  of  opera,  about  the  year 
1600,  till  far  into  the  nineteenth  century  the 
favourite  source  of  librettos  was  the  mythology  of 
the  Greeks  and  Romans.  Most  of  them  were 
unspeakably  silly,  but  as  no  one  listened  to  the 
words,  or  paid  any  attention  to  the  plot,  it  mat- 
14 


210    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

tered  little.  However,  as  the  French  say, 
ridicule  is  deadly.  The  parodies  of  these  plots 
perpetrated  by  Offenbach  and  his  collabora- 
tors doubtless  helped  to  end  this  custom;  and 
thenceforth,  if  a  composer  borrowed  an  ancient 
classical  legend,  he  found  it  advisable  to  get 
a  real  man  of  letters  to  put  it  into  shape  for 
him. 

This  is  what  Massenet  did  when  he  took 
a  fancy  to  the  old  tale  of  Ariadne  and  Theseus. 
Catulle  Mendes,  versed  in  the  art  of  writing 
opera  texts  as  well  as  other  kinds  of  verse,  sup- 
plied him  with  a  "book"  of  five  acts  which  has 
genuine  poetic  merit;  and  while  it  follows  in  the 
main  the  classic  story,  some  new  and  effective 
details  are  introduced.  Mendes  also  took  pains 
to  point  out  the  symbolism  inherent  in  the  char- 
acters of  the  myth;  but  on  this  we  need  not 
dwell,  as  opera-goers  are  not  interested  in  sym- 
bolism. They  like  a  "round  unvarnish'd  tale" 
— a  point  composers  and  their  collaborators 
would  do  well  to  bear  in  mind. 

Such  a  tale,  on  the  whole,  is  that  embodied 
in  Ariane.  The  first  scene  is  placed  on  the 
island  of  Crete,  to  which  Theseus  has  brought 
a  shipload  of  youths  and  virgins,  the  annual 
tribute  unhappy  Athens  has  to  pay  to  the  vora- 
cious Minotaur.  Having  learned  the  secret 


THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS      211 

of  the  labyrinth  from  Ariadne,  the  daughter  of 
Minos,  he  enters  it  with  these  young  victims 
intended  for  the  man-eating  monster  that  dwells 
in  it.  Ariadne  remains  behind,  prays  to  the 
goddess  of  Love,  and  tells  her  twin  sister,  Phaedra, 
of  her  mad  passion  for  Theseus.  Soon  loud 
cries  of  terror  are  heard  in  the  labyrinth;  but 
they  presently  cease,  for  Theseus  slays  the  mon- 
ster and  soon  thereafter  appears  on  the  stage 
covered  with  blood;  while  the  young  folks  he 
has  saved  joyously  gather  fruits  and  flowers. 
Enthusiastically  the  gratified  hero  addresses 
Ariadne,  inviting  her  to  follow  him  to  Athens 
and  be  his  queen. 

His  vessel,  when  the  curtain  rises  again,  is 
seen  traversing  the  ^Egean  Sea,  past  its  many 
picturesque  islands,  the  names  of  which  the  pilot 
proclaims,  while  the  chorus  of  young  folks  sings 
of  their  attractions.  Phaedra  also  is  on  board, 
and  the  sight  of  her  sister's  happiness  makes 
her  more  and  more  envious  of  her  good  fortune 
in  securing  such  a  lover.  Suddenly  a  violent 
storm  arises  and  the  ship,  beaten  off  its  course, 
lands  at  Naxos. 

Here  they  remain  several  months,  during  which 
Ariadne  discovers,  to  her  grief,  that  the  hero's 
affection  for  her  is  cooling.  In  truth,  Theseus 
has  fallen  madly  in  love  with  Phaedra.  Ariadne 


212     MASSENET  AND   HIS   OPERAS 

discovers  the  two  in  a  tender  embrace  and  furi- 
ously sends  her  sister  away.  But  when  news  is 
brought  her  shortly  afterward  that  Phaedra, 
having  laid  a  sacrilegious  hand  on  the  statue 
of  Adonis,  has  been  killed  by  the  falling  marble, 
she  forgives  everything,  and  implores  the  goddess 
of  Love  to  restore  her  sister. 

The  goddess  consents  and  sends  Ariadne  to 
the  lower  world,  under  escort  of  the  Three 
Graces,  to  implore  Persephone.  Her  request 
is  at  first  refused,  but  when  Ariadne  offers  Per- 
sephone a  bunch  of  fragrant  roses  she  is  over- 
come and  allows  her  to  take  back  Phaedra  to  the 
upper  world — alas!  for  no  sooner  have  they 
arrived  in  Naxos  when  the  fickle  Theseus  car- 
ries her  off  on  his  ship,  abandoning  Ariadne, 
who,  following  the  call  of  the  sirens,  throws 
herself  into  the  sea. 

The  episode  of  the  lower  world  and  the  roses 
is  an  interpolation  of  Mendes,  adopted,  obviously, 
to  emphasize  his  ideal  of  Ariadne  as  the  symbol 
of  instinctive  womanly  love,  tender  and  for- 
giving even  when  wronged. 

Apart  from  a  few  suggestions  of  Greek  tonality 
in  the  appeals  to  the  divinities,  Massenet  made 
no  attempt  to  introduce  Hellenic  local  colour 
in  this  score;  his  melody  is  " Massen&ique,"  and 
that  was  why  the  audience  applauded  it,  while 


THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS      213 

his  orchestration  was  found  as  clever  and  daz- 
zling as  usual. 

A  German  critic*  expressed  his  surprise  at 
Massenet's  indubitable  success  in  the  field  of 
mythological-romantic  opera.  "One  would  not 
have  expected  of  the  gentle,  sentimental  com- 
poser of  Manon  the  elemental  dramatic  power 
manifested  here,  particularly  in  the  first  and 
third  acts,  and  one  is  astonished  to  find  hi  the 
elegant,  worldly,  erotic  Massenet  at  the  same 
time  so  passionate  and  almost  demoniac  an 
artistic  temperament." 

What  impressed  Jullien  particularly  was  Mas- 
senet's skill,  in  the  scene  in  the  lower  world,  in 
making  the  hearer  realize  "the  lugubrious  torpor 
prevailing  in  the  kingdom  of  the  dead.  The 
composer  seems  to  have  put  all  the  sadness  of 
his  heart  into  the  impassive  plaint  of  Persephone." 
Concerning  the  music  of  this  whole  scene,  Mas- 
senet said  that  it  came  to  him  all  at  once,  com- 
plete and  unpremeditated. 

To  the  present  time  Massenet  has  preserved 
his  allegiance  to  Wagner.  The  sirens  are 
cousins  of  the  Rhine  maidens,  and  the  fight 
with  the  Minotaur  suggests  Siegfried  and  the 
dragon.  Mendes,  also  a  worshipper  at  the 
Wagnerian  shrine,  did  not  bear  in  mind  to  add 
*  Allgemeine  Musik-Zeitung,  November  9,  1906. 


2i4    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

this  when,  in  an  interview,  he  congratulated 
his  collaborator  on  having  found  in  him  "a 
marvellous  Lully,  a  perfect  Rameau,  and  a 
complete  Gluck" — the  dances  in  the  infernal 
regions  being  written  in  the  style  of  those  masters. 

Summing  up  his  impressions,  Jullien  remarks: 
"The  funeral  procession  which  brings  back  to 
the  palace  the  body  of  Phaedra  is  treated  with 
no  less  skill,  and  crowns  most  appropriately 
this  series  of  scenes — tender,  violent,  or  melan- 
choly— all  written  in  a  style  which  is  at  the  same 
time  very  modern  and  slightly  retrospective." 

Surely  here  is  an  opera  that  ought  to  be  made 
known  to  English  and  American  audiences. 

The  first  performance  of  Ariane  was  at  the 
Ope"ra  on  October  31,  1906,  the  cast  including 
BreVal  as  Ariadne,  Grandjean  as  Phaedra,  Mura- 
tore  as  Theseus,  Delmas  as  Pirithous. 

THiRESE 

Only  three  months  after  the  Parisian  premiere 
of  Ariane,  on  February  7,  1907,  Raoul  Guns- 
bourg  produced,  at  Monte  Carlo,  another  Mas- 
senet novelty,  entitled  Thfrtse,  a  "drame  musi- 
cal "  in  two  acts,  the  libretto  being  by  still  another 
eminent  French  writer,  Jules  Claretie.  The 
cast  included  two  artists  known  and  admired  in 


THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS      215 

America:  Clement  as  Armand,  and  Dufranne 
as  Andre*  Thorel.  The  part  of  The'rese  was 
assumed  by  Lucy  Arbell. 

Variety  is  the  spice  of  Massenet's  operas. 
From  the  Greek  mythology  of  Ariane  we  pass, 
in  Thertsc,  to  the  French  Revolution.  The 
heroine  is  the  wife  of  the  Girondin,  Andre"  Thorel, 
who  has  bought  at  auction  the  confiscated  castle 
of  his  royalist  friend  Armand  de  Clerval,  with  the 
intention  of  ultimately  restoring  it  to  him  as  soon 
as  it  will  be  safe  for  him  to  return  to  France.  In 
truth,  Armand  is  back  already,  in  disguise;  he 
is  on  the  way  to  join  the  royalists  in  Vendee,  but 
cannot  resist  the  temptation  to  visit  his  domains 
and  call  upon  The'rese.  As  a  boy  he  had  loved 
her,  and  she  him.  The  fact  that  she  is  now 
the  wife  of  his  most  devoted  friend  does  not 
prevent  him  from  coveting  her.  Thorel  takes 
him  into  his  house,  at  the  risk  of  his  own  life. 
At  his  wife's  request  he  provides  Armand  with  a 
safe-conduct,  with  the  aid  of  which  the  perfidious 
marquis  hopes  to  carry  off  The'rese. 

In  the  second  act  the  portier  comes  home 
hastily  to  inform  The'rese  that  her  husband 
has  been  arrested  and  is  being  carried  to  the 
scaffold.  The  terrible  news  brings  about  a 
revulsion  of  feeling.  Deaf  to  the  entreaties  of 
Armand,  she  opens  the  window  and  cries  "Vive 


2i6    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

le  Roi!"  The  mob  thereupon  furiously  assaults 
her  house,  and  she  is  carried  off  to  share  her 
husband's  fate.  Armand  escapes. 

This  breathless  action  recalls  La  Navarraise. 
Musically,  too,  The'rese  suggests  that  turbulent 
opera.  "  Massenet's  music  is  to  a  certain  extent 
thrust  into  the  background  by  the  exciting  inci- 
dents of  the  plot,"  writes  Mr.  Streatfeild.  "The 
cries  of  the  crowd,  the  songs  of  the  soldiers,  and 
the  roll  of  the  drums  leave  but  little  space  for 
musical  development.  Still  Therhe  contains 
many  charming  passages  of  melody  and  grace, 
though  it  will  certainly  not  rank  among  the  com- 
poser's masterpieces." 

Schneider  was  impressed  by  the  local  colour 
in  the  score:  "It  is  with  an  astonishingly  simple 
device  (but  simplicity  is  not  always  the  simplest 
thing  to  attain)  that  Massenet  depicts,  begin- 
ning with  the  prelude,  the  noise  of  the  unchained 
mob;  those  three  persistent  notes  which  mean 
the  beat  to  arms,  recur  in  the  final  scene  with 
an  agonising  effect." 

"In  the  opening  scenes  of  the  opera  it  is  the 
impression  of  sadness  that  calls  for  praise.  The 
scenery,  the  music,  the  atmosphere,  are  all  in 
harmony,  everything  is  sad — not  solemnly  so, 
but  just  grey,  in  an  intimate,  charming 
way." 


THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS      217 

BACCHUS 

Pleased  with  their  success  in  the  case  of  Ariane, 
Mendes  and  Massenet  once  more  put  their  heads 
together  and  produced  a  sequel  to  that  opera, 
which  they  called  Bacchus.  It  is  connected  with 
Ariane  by  means  of  a  prologue  in  which  we  see 
once  more  the  goddess  of  the  lower  world,  Per- 
sephone. Still  grateful  to  Ariadne  for  the  whiff 
of  the  upper  world  she  had  brought  to  her  with 
the  bunch  of  roses,  she  summons  one  of  the 
Fates,  the  all-seeing  Clotho,  and  asks  her  what 
has  become  of  Ariadne.  Clotho  replies  that  she 
is  sailing  toward  the  Orient  on  the  ship  of  the 
handsome  Bacchus. 

That  deity  has  become  enamoured  of  Ariadne, 
and,  to  win  her  love,  has  assumed  the  form  and 
face  of  Theseus,  wherefore  she  willingly  follows 
him  to  the  shores  of  distant  India.  They  pro- 
ceed, with  his  retinue  of  satyrs  and  bacchantes, 
to  the  land  of  Sakias,  the  queen  of  which  is  the 
Amazonian  Amahelli.  Her  forces  are  routed 
by  the  cohorts  of  Bacchus,  but  she  has  an  ally 
in  Ramavacou,  the  Buddhist  priest,  who,  at  this 
critical  moment,  summons  to  her  aid  the  apes 
in  the  woods.  These  powerful  brutes  fall  upon 
the  companions  of  Bacchus  and  in  a  moment 
the  battle-field  is  strewn  with  corpses.  Amahelli 


2i8    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

comes  at  night  with  a  lantern  to  gloat  over  the 
body  of  her  enemy;  but  Bacchus  is  unharmed; 
and  when  she  sees  him,  her  hatred  turns  to  sud- 
den love,  which  is  fanned  by  jealousy  when 
Ariadne,  who  has  also  escaped  the  simian  car- 
nage, calls  to  him.  "You  are  his  spouse?" 
cries  the  Amazon.  "And  you  are  beautiful. 
Die  then."  But  Bacchus  checks  her,  and 
makes  her  do  homage  to  Ariadne.  Then  he 
plays  his  trump  card,  providing  wine  for  one  and 
all,  including  the  apes. 

The  wily  queen,  however,  follows  a  plan  of 
her  own.  Ariadne,  hearing  the  sound  of  trees 
that  are  felled,  asks  the  meaning  of  it,  and 
Amahelli  replies  that  a  funeral  pile  is  being 
constructed,  by  order  of  the  supreme  deity,  on 
which  Bacchus  must  die  unless  a  "soeur  des 
Puissants,  nubile  et  vierge  encore,"  sacrifices  her- 
self in  his  place.  Ariadne  promptly  claims  the 
privilege.  A  funeral  procession  escorts  her  to 
the  place  of  execution.  Bacchus  misses  Ariadne, 
but  too  late  to  prevent  the  catastrophe;  where- 
upon he  calls  upon  Zeus  to  destroy  Amahelli 
with  a  thunderbolt. 

"What  a  perfectly  crazy  thing!"  the  reader 
will  exclaim.  "How  could  Massenet  set  such  a 
nightmare  to  music?" 

Not  having  heard  the  opera  or  seen  the  score 


THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS      219 

I  cannot  say;  but  Jullien,  whose  praise  of  Ariane 
I  cited,  declares  that  Massenet,  as  if  discouraged, 
has  written  for  this  "  profonde'ment  obscur  et 
pu&il"  libretto,  "a  score  singularly  poor  and 
empty  (de'pouille'e),  in  which  one  looks  in  vain 
for  the  sovereign  cleverness  of  workmanship,  the 
sensibility,  the  sensuous  quality,  which  are  his 
main  characteristics." 

Much  was  said  in  advance  about  the  battle  of 
the  apes — too  much,  the  same  critic  declares; 
"has  anybody  ever,  in  fact,  seen  a  piece 
more  paltry,  more  meagre,  and  less  terrify- 
ing than  that  in  which  the  composer  intended 
to  depict  the  terrific  struggle  of  the  apes 
with  the  men,  having  attempted,  so  we  are 
told,  most  conscientiously,  to  give  an  exact 
imitation  of  the  sharp  cry  of  the  'uprooters  of 
rocks'  ?" 

Some  of  the  other  commentators  are  less 
severe,  and  Massenet  himself  is  reported  to 
have  declared  that  the  two  Ariadne  operas 
"se  competent  merveilleusement";  but  the  con- 
sensus of  opinion  seems  to  be  that  this  is  not  one 
of  the  works  by  which  his  name  will  live.  One 
suspects  that  his  habitual  amiability  made  it 
impossible  for  him  to  tell  his  friend  Mendes  that 
he  did  not  want  this  poem.  And  yet,  when  all 
is  said  and  done,  one  finds  that  this  story  of 


220     MASSENET  AND  HIS   OPERAS 

Ariadne  and  Bacchus  in  India  haunts  one  by 
reason  of  its  very  fantasticalness. 

DON  QUICHOTTE 

Raoul  Gunsbourg,  the  enterprising  manager  of 
Monte  Carlo,  is  responsible  for  the  last  of  Mas- 
senet's operas,  up  to  1910.  In  1904  he  heard  a 
play  by  Jacques  Le  Lorraine,  which  he  admired 
so  much  that  he  spoke  of  it  to  Massenet,  who 
also  liked  it  and  decided  to  turn  it  into  an  opera, 
with  the  consent  and  aid  of  its  author.  Unfor- 
tunately, just  at  this  time  Le  Lorraine  died.  But 
the  plan  was  not  abandoned,  Henri  Cain  being 
engaged  to  prepare  the  libretto. 

Don  Quichotte  and  Sancho  Panza,  together 
with  the  incident  of  the  windmills,  are  taken 
from  the  book  of  Cervantes;  for  the  plot  the 
Frenchmen  are  responsible.  Dulcinea,  hi  their 
version,  is  a  courtesan,  with  many  admirers, 
among  them  Don  Quichotte,  who  appears  under 
her  balcony  and  sings  a  serenade,  the  conse- 
quence being  a  duel  with  one  of  her  cavaliers. 
Dulcinea  separates  them.  She  is  much  amused 
when  he  proceeds,  in  flowery  language,  to  offer 
her  marriage,  and  she  replies  that  he  must  first 
restore  to  her  a  precious  necklace  stolen  from  her 
by  the  brigand  T&iebrun. 


THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS      221 

Enthusiastically  he  sets  out  on  his  Rosinante  to 
perform  this  deed,  accompanied  by  the  faithful 
Sancho.  Coming  across  the  windmills,  he  takes 
them  for  giants  extending  their  arms  menacingly; 
he  charges  and  is  carried  upward  on  one  of  the 
wings. 

In  the  third  act  he  succeeds  in  finding  the 
brigands.  They  capture  and  threaten  him,  and 
prepare  the  gallows,  but  ultimately  are  so  much 
impressed  by  his  gentleness  and  nobility  of  char- 
acter that  they  not  only  allow  him  to  depart 
unharmed,  but  give  him  the  necklace  stolen  from 
Dulcinea. 

With  it  he  returns  to  her  home,  creating  a 
sensation  by  appearing  in  the  midst  of  a  brilliant 
f£te.  She  is  overcome  with  joy  on  getting  back 
the  necklace;  but  when  he  renews  his  proposal 
of  marriage  she  frankly  tells  him  what  sort  of  a 
woman  she  is. 

In  the  final  act  we  find  Don  Quichotte  at  the 
foot  of  a  large  tree,  in  a  dense  forest,  dying.  To 
Sancho,  who  has  remained  with  him  to  the  last, 
he  recalls  the  fertile  island  he  has  promised  him. 
"Take  this  isle,"  he  says,  "which  it  is  always 
in  my  power  to  present — the  Isle  of  Dreams." 
And  muttering  once  more  the  name  Dulcinea, 
he  expires. 

Raoul  Gunsbourg  is  noted  for  his  ingenuity 


222     MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

in  overcoming  difficulties  of  stage  mechanism. 
The  problem  of  the  windmill  was  cleverly  solved. 
In  some  of  the  scenic  changes  delay  was  avoided 
by  the  use  of  a  cinematograph.  An  effective 
touch  was  given  to  the  last  scene,  in  which  Don 
Quichotte  apostrophises  the  evening-star  as  Dul- 
cinea,  by  the  momentary  apparition  of  Mme. 
Arbell,  who  impersonated  that  r61e. 

The  premiere  of  this  "come'die-lyrique"  at 
Monte  Carlo  was  on  February  19,  1910.  A 
few  weeks  later  M.  Gunsbourg  took  his  whole 
company  and  outfit  to  Brussels,  where  the  per- 
formance was  witnessed  also  by  many  Parisians. 
LEtoile  called  it  a  "soiree  bien  parisienne — et, 
naturellement,  triomphe  bien  parisien  aussi." 
There  was  a  great  deal  of  applause,  with 
many  recalls.  "At  the  end  of  the  opera,  while 
the  public  gave  the  artists,  particularly  Chalia- 
pine,  delirious  ovations,  it  would  have  been  glad 
to  include  in  them  the  authors,  who  were  loudly 
called  for;  but  in  vain.  M.  Cain,  over-modest, 
had  disappeared;  and  as  for  M.  Massenet, 
he  had,  as  always,  gone  to  bed  long  before 
that  hour." 

The  critics  agreed  that  much  of  the  brilliant 
success  of  Don  Quichotte  was  due  to  the  imper- 
sonation of  Chaliapine,  whose  make-up,  song,  and 
action  combined  to  make,  in  the  words  of  Paul 


THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS      223 

Gilson,  "a  striking  creation,  which  it  will  be 
difficult  to  forget  or  to  duplicate."  He  was  ably 
supported  by  Mme.  Arbell  as  Dulcinea,  and  by 
M.  Gresse  as  Sancho. 

"It  is  not  necessary  to  comment,"  wrote 
M.  Gilson  in  Le  Soir,  "on  the  consummate  skill 
with  which  the  personalities  have  been  char- 
acterized and  the  scenes  developed.  The  mas- 
tery of  Massenet  is,  in  these  respects,  absolute, 
unequalled."  This  critic  was  struck,  at  the 
same  time,  by  the  growing  simplicity  of  Mas- 
senet's scores.  "The  orchestra  is  reduced  to  a 
minimum.  The  modulations  have  become  rare- 
fied; the  key  of  C  major,  in  particular,  recurs 
with  a  persistence  which  recalls,  at  times,  the 
manner  of  the  old  French  masters,  notably 
Rameau,  whom  the  composer  of  Don  Quichotte 
seems  to  wish  to  emulate." 

A  similar  impression  was  made  on  the  critic 
of  the  Independence  Beige,*  who  expresses  his 
surprise  that  "a  man  who,  like  Massenet,  has 
created  a  style  entirely  his  own,  a  'maniere' 
which  distinguishes  him  from  all  his  contempora- 
ries excepting  those  who  have  tried  to  imitate 
him,"  should  end  by  making  his  score  "  un  mon- 
strueux  assemblage  d>  elements  entierement  dis- 
parates. There  is  a  little  of  everything  in  Don 

*The  newspapers  here  cited  are  all  Belgian. 


224    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

Quichotte.  In  the  fourth  act,  during  the  f£te 
at  Dulcinea's  house,  there  is  at  first  a  sort 
of  Spanish  exoticism  £  la  Bizet,  but  more 
crude  and  coarse;  it  is  the  famous  phrase 
massenttique  with  its  feline  and  sensual  inflec- 
tions; after  that  comes  a  chorus  of  guests — pleas- 
ing as  such — which  might  have  been  written 
by  Lully.  The  entrance  of  Don  Quichotte  and 
Sancho  and  the  dialogue  between  master  and 
squire  have  traits  which  recall  the  style  of 
Mozart;  the  end  of  the  act,  with  Sancho's  great 
air,  is  consecrated  again  to  the  phrase  mas- 
senitique  d&adente." 

The  first  and  third  acts  did  not  please  this 
critic,  but  he  was  impressed  by  the  final  scene 
of  the  opera.  "Here  M.  Massenet  has  given 
proof  of  discernment  and  taste  by  reducing 
the  music  to  its  simplest  expression:  a  gentle 
murmur  of  muted  strings  and  wood-wind  in- 
struments, a  slight  contrapuntal  elaboration, 
discreet  and  veiled,  on  which  is  superimposed 
the  dull,  wan  song  of  the  good  chevalier  and  his 
squire." 

In  the  fourth  act,  where  Don  Quichotte  dis- 
covers the  truth  regarding  his  idol  from  her  own 
lips,  H.  L.,  of  Le  Patriots,  admired  the  delicious 
melody  of  the  duo.  Moreover,  "the  sadness  and 
suffering,  the  whole  gamut  of  disillusion  and  of 


THE  LESS  KNOWN  OPERAS      225 

patient  resignation — all  these  are  mirrored  in 
the  music,  and  Mme.  Arbell  better  deserved  the 
approval  of  the  public  at  this  moment  than  for 
the  mediocre  chansonette  which  she  sings  to  her 
own  accompaniment  on  the  guitar." 


VII 

LIST  OF  MASSENET'S 
COMPOSITIONS 


VII 

LIST  OF  MASSENET'S  COMPOSITIONS 

A  :  STAGE  WORKS 

A  the  title-page  indicates,  this  volume  is 
devoted  to  Massenet  and  his  operas. 
Some  of  his  orchestral  works  and  a  few 
of  the  choral  compositions  were  referred  to  in 
the  chapter  narrating  the  incidents  of  his  career, 
because  it  was  necessary  to  show  how  they 
helped  to  pave  his  way  to  the  opera-houses.  To- 
day it  is  almost  exclusively  as  an  opera  composer 
that  Massenet  is  known  to  the  world,  at  least 
outside  of  France,  an  exception  being  the  songs, 
some  of  which  are  favourites  everywhere.  The 
remaining  pages  of  this  volume  will  therefore 
contain  little  more  than  lists  of  his  miscellaneous 
works,  without  comment. 

For  the  theatre  there  are,  beside  the  twenty- 
one  operas,  two  slighter  works,  which  call  for  a 
word  or  two. 

Le  Carillon.  This  "Le'gende  Mim^e  et  Dan- 
seV'  is  a  one-act  ballet  the  subject  of  which  was 
229 


230    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

suggested  to  Massenet  by  the  tenor  Van  Dyck. 
It  was  produced  in  Vienna  on  February  21,  1892, 
five  days  after  Werther. 

Cigale.  A  "Divertissement-Ballet"  in  two 
acts;  first  performance  February  4,  1904,  at  the 
Ope*ra-Comique.  A  brief  account  of  these  two 
works  may  be  found  in  Schneider's  sumptuous 
volume,  which  also  devotes  some  space  to  the 
songs  and  the  instrumental  works. 

Including  Le  Carillon  and  Cigale  and  a  few 
unpublished  scores,  we  have  the  folk  wing  chron- 
ological list  of  stage  works: 

La  Grand'  Tante,  1867. 

Esmfralda.  Composed  in  Rome;  never  per- 
formed or  printed. 

Mtduse,  1868-70.     Unpublished. 

La  Coupe  du  roi  de  Thule.     (See  page  181.) 

Don  Ctsar  de  Bazan.     1872. 

L' Adorable  Bel-Boul.  Performed  in  the  Cercle 
de  P  Union  artistique,  1874;  suppressed  by  Mas- 
senet. 

Bfrengere  et  Anatok.  Played  in  the  same 
club,  1876. 

Le  Roi  de  Lahore,  1877. 

Herodiade,  1881. 

Manon,  1884. 

Le  Cid,  1885. 

Esclarmonde,  1889. 


MASSENET'S  COMPOSITIONS      231 

Le  Mage,  1891. 

Werther,  1892. 

Le  Carillon,  1892. 

Thais,  1894. 

Le  Portrait  de  Manon,  1894. 

La  Navarraise,  1894. 

Sapho,  1897. 

Cendrillon,  1899. 

Grisdidis,  1901. 

Ze  Jongleur  de  Notre  Dame,  1902. 

Cigale,  1904. 

Chtrubin,  1905. 

.4na««,  1906. 

Thfrese,  1907. 

Bacchus,  1909. 

Z>0«  Quichotte,  1910. 

Massenet  also  contributed  orchestral  numbers 
to  several  plays:  Delourede's  Hetman,  Sardou's 
Theodora  and  Le  Crocodile;  and  orchestrated  and 
completed  the  opera  Kassya,  which  Delibes  left 
unfinished  when  he  died. 

B:  PRINCIPAL  CHORAL  COMPOSITIONS* 

Les  Erynnies — Marie  Magdeleine — Eve — Nar- 
cisse — La  Vierge — La  Terre  Promise. 

*  For  a  more  complete  list  of  the  vocal  works  see  Solenidre, 
pp.  153-156.  For  comments  on  them  and  the  miscellaneous 
works  see  Schneider,  pp.  351-71. 


232     MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

C:  SONGS  AND  DUOS 

As  a  composer  of  lyric  and  sacred  songs  no 
Frenchman  has  enjoyed  greater  or  more  deserved 
popularity  than  Massenet.  The  gem  of  his 
songs  for  one  voice  is  the  famous  EUgie,  with 
accompaniment  for  violoncello  as  well  as  voice. 
This  ranks  with  the  best  German  lieder.  Origi- 
nally it  was  a  number  in  the  choral  work,  Les 
Erynnies.  The  composer  has  kindly  contributed 
an  autograph  copy  of  the  melody  to  this  volume. 
It  is  an  emotional  song,  and  the  accompaniment 
is  made  specially  interesting  by  imitation  strains. 

There  are  more  than  a  hundred  solo  songs  and 
duos,  including  those  of  a  religious  character. 
Among  those  most  spontaneous  in  melody  and 
most  piquant  harmonically  are  Un  Adieu,  A  la 
trepassee,  Roses  d'octobre;  Pensee  d'automne,  Je 
t'aime,  Nuit  d'Espagne,  Berceuse,  Chant  pro- 
venfal,  Premiere  danse,  the  Ave  Maria,  based  on 
the  Meditation  in  Thais.  Tastes  differ  and  ama- 
teurs interested  in  these  lyrics  will  do  well  to  read 
over  the  songs  and  mark  those  they  like  best. 
There  are  six  volumes  of  twenty  each,  besides 
a  number  printed  separately.  There  are  also 
several  song  cycles,  a  form  introduced  in  France 
by  Massenet. 


cs 


;3 


& 


I 


MASSENET'S  COMPOSITIONS      233 

D:  INSTRUMENTAL  PIECES 

There  is  no  symphony  in  the  list  of  Massenet's 
orchestral  works,  but  among  them  are  a  sym- 
phonic poem  entitled  Visions,  the  Ouverture  de 
Concert  (1863)  and  Ouverture  de  Phedre,  and 
six  suites,  entitled  Scenes  hongroises,  Scenes 
pittoresques,  Scenes  dramatiques,  Scenes  napoli- 
taines,  Scenes  de  faerie,  Scenes  alsaciennes, 
besides  a  Sarabande  espagnole,  a  Marche  de 
Szabady,  and  the  early  Pompeia,  comprising 
four  numbers.  In  the  Noceflamande  a  chorus 
is  introduced. 

Chamber  music  is  represented  by  a  string  quar- 
tet, Dichetto  for  string  quartet,  double  bass,  flute, 
oboe,  clarionet,  horn,  bassoon,  and  three  pieces 
for  violoncello  and  piano. 

There  is  a  concerto  for  piano  in  which  Hun- 
garian melodies  are  introduced  after  the  manner 
of  Liszt.  It  is  not  considered  one  of  Massenet's 
masterworks  by  those  who  have  heard  it;  alto- 
gether, he  wrote  little  for  the  piano.  His  Sept 
improvisations  are  as  difficult  as  a  concerto.  More 
in  the  usual  "salon"  style  are  his  Impromptu, 
Eau  dormante,  Eau  courante,  Toccata,  and  Parade 
militaire.  Among  the  numbers  in  his  Dix  pieces 
de  genre  there  is  a  transcription  of  the  lovely 
Etegie.  The  Scenes  de  bal  is  for  four  hands. 


234     MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

Schneider  mentions  a  Suite  de  Irois  pieces  for 
piano  based  on  pieces  originally  composed  by 
him  for  violoncello  and  piano,  and  two  recent 
works:  Papillons  noirs  and  Papillons  blancs,  "qui 
sont  d'aimables  badinages  pianistiques." 


BIBLIOGRAPHIC  NOTE 


BIBLIOGRAPHIC  NOTE 

THE  present  volume  is  the  first  in  the 
English  language  devoted  entirely  to 
Massenet;  the  first,  in  fact,  in  any  lan- 
guage, with  two  exceptions.  One  of  these  is: 
Massenet :  DHomme — Le  musicien,  by  Louis 
Schneider  (Paris:  L.  Carteret,  1908),  a  sumptuous 
volume,  richly  illustrated  with  portraits,  scenes 
from  operas,  and  facsimiles  of  pages  from  scores 
and  other  documents.  It  is  warmly  indorsed  by 
the  composer  in  a  letter  to  me,  and  may  be 
considered  entirely  reliable  as  to  facts. 

Profiles  D' Artistes  Contemporains  by  Hugues 
Imbert  (Paris:  Librairie  Fischbacher,  1897)  gives 
130  of  its  335  pages  to  Massenet,  the  others  being 
concerned  with  Alexis  de  Castillon,  Paul  Lacombe, 
Charles  Lefebvre,  Antoine  Rubinstein,  and 
Edouard  Schure".  The  pages  devoted  to  Massenet 
are  concerned  with  his  life  as  well  as  his  operas 
up  to  1906  (La  Navarraise).  There  are  many 
details  of  interest  not  included  in  Schneider's  more 
elaborate  work. 

Massenet:  Etude  Critique   et  Documentaire,  by 
237 


238    MASSENET  AND  HIS  OPERAS 

Eugene  de  Soleniere,  is  the  other  book  referred  to 
as  being  concerned  entirely  with  Massenet.  It 
is  not  a  biography,  however,  but  simply  a  mono- 
graph on  the  operas,  up  to  La  Navarraise.  It 
is  published  in  Paris  (Bibliotheque  D'Art  de 
"La  Critique,"  1897)  and  is  out  of  print.  The 
author  gives  details  regarding  first  performances, 
casts,  etc.,  not  recorded  elsewhere,  and  there  is 
an  introduction  in  which  he  expresses  some 
opinions  of  his  own;  but  the  rest  of  his  volume  is 
made  up  chiefly  of  reprints  of  the  opinions  ex- 
pressed in  prominent  newspapers  on  the  Massenet 
operas  when  first  produced. 

La  Musique  Franfaise  Moderne  by  Georges 
Servieres  (Paris)  includes  a  valuable  critical  essay 
of  about  a  hundred  pages  on  Massenet. 

French  Music  in  the  XlXth  Century,  by 
Arthur  Hervey  (London:  Grant  Richards,  1903) 
gives  only  seven  of  its  271  pages  to  Massenet. 

Masters  of  French  Music,  by  Arthur  Hervey 
(New  York:  Chas.  Scribner's  Sons,  1894),  dis- 
cusses Massenet  and  his  principal  compositions  in 
a  chapter  of  34  pages. 

The  Opera,  by  R.  A.  Streatfeild  (London: 
George  Routledge  &  Sons,  1907),  gives  brief  but 
lucid  summaries  of  the  librettos  of  the  most  im- 
portant Massenet  operas,  with  judicious  com- 
ments, all  in  ii  pages. 


BIBLIOGRAPHIC  NOTE  239 

Musiciens  D'Aujourd'hui;  Musiciens  D'hier 
et  D' Aujourd? hut.  Three  volumes  (1892-1910) 
by  Adolphe  Jullien  which  include  critical  (some- 
times hypercritical)  analyses  of  most  of  the 
Massenet  operas. 

To  most  of  these  books,  particularly  the  two 
named  first,  I  am  under  obligations  for  material 
used  in  the  present  volume.  Other  sources 
of  information,  including  newspaper  articles  and 
personal  talks  with  artists,  are  mentioned  in  the 
text  and  footnotes.  Foremost  in  importance 
among  these  is  the  autobiographic  sketch  Mas- 
senet contributed  to  the  Century  Magazine  (No- 
vember, 1892).  Some  use  has  been  made,  as 
a  matter  of  course,  of  the  reviews  I  wrote,  for 
the  Evening  Post,  of  the  nine  Massenet  operas 
which  have  been  produced  in  New  York.  For 
permission  to  reproduce  photographs  my  thanks 
are  due  to  Charles  H.  Davis,  of  Davis  and 
Eickemeyer,  and  to  Mischkin,  Aime  Dupont, 
and  E.  S.  Bennett  of  New  York,  and  Paul  Berger 
of  Paris. 


INDEX 

Ariane,  209-214 

Bacchus,  217-220 
Bellaigue,  C.,  46,  194 
Bibliographic  note,  237-9 
Bizet,  53 

Calve",  Emma,  64,  117,  119,  171,  175 

Campanini,  C.,  14 

Carillon,  Le,  229 

Caruso,  141 

Cavalieri,  Lina,  no,  206 

Cendrillon,  202-206 

Chamber  music,  233 

Chtrubin,  206-209 

Choral  works,  41-52,  231 

Cid,  Le,  164-170 

Cigale,  230 

Cldment,  Edmond,  163 

Colonne,  53,  6 1 

Compositions,  list  of,  229-234 

Concert  pieces,  35-41,  41-48,  233 

Dalmores,  C.,  14,  83,  89,  no,  119 

Don  Ctsar  de  Bazan.  i8i-i8c 

/* 
16  241 


243  INDEX 

Don  Quichottc,  220-225 
Dubois,  Theodore,  37 

Eames,  Emma,  162 
fagU,  49,  232 

Erynnies,  Les,  48 
Esclarmondc,  190-196 

Farrar,  Geraldine,  88,  141,  163 

Garden,  Mary,  15,  75,  83-85,  99,  loi-a,  118,  127, 106, 

209 

Gilibert,  Charles,  101,  176,  185 
Gounod,  50,  116 
Grand'  Tante,  La,  39,  179-181 
Grisdidis,  120-127 
Gunsbourg,  R.,  214,  220 

Hammerstein,  O.,  13-15,  75 
Hartraann,  Georges,  36,  39,  43,  60,  145 
Hauk,  Minnie,  141 
Hlrodiade,  102-116 
Hervey,  Arthur,  45,  189,  238 
Huberdeau,  119,  126 

Imbert,  Hugues,  23,  34,  38,  63,  70,  89,  202,  237 

Jongleur  de  Notre  Dame,  Le,  15,  90-102,  120 
Jullien,  A.,  119,  198,  204,  206,  207-8,  219,  239 

Krehbiel,  H.  E.,  160 


INDEX  243 

London,  Werther  in,  155;  La  Navarr aisc,  170 

Manhattan  Opera  House,  75-126 

Manon,  131-144 

Marie  Magdeleine,  32,  41-48 

Massenet,  in  America,  13;  his  music  truly  French,  16; 
versatility  vs.  development,  17;  biographic  sketch, 
21-58;  parents  and  childhood,  21;  full  name,  22; 
at  the  Conservatoire,  23 ;  beats  kettle-drums  for  a 
living,  25;  appearance  as  a  youth,  26;  wins  Ro- 
man prize,  28;  its  advantages,  29;  copies  shep- 
herd's tune,  32;  meets  Liszt,  32;  marries  Mile. 
Sainte-Marie,  34;  gives  lessons,  34;  drum  anec- 
dote, 35;  concert-hall  successes,  35;  encounter 
with  a  journalist,  37;  first  opera,  39;  sensational 
success  of  Marie  Magdeleine,  41 ;  influenced  by 
Renan,  49;  a  humiliating  experience,  52;  first 
important  opera,  52;  distinctions  conferred  on 
him,  53;  as  teacher  at  the  Conservatoire,  54-56; 
his  pupils,  55;  personal  traits  and  opinions, 
58-71;  appearance  at  age  of  54,  59;  activity  and 
triumphs,  59-60;  amiability,  61;  sensitiveness  to 
criticism,  61;  when  and  how  he  composes,  62-63; 
glorification  of  woman,  64;  Calve"  and  Sanderson, 
64-65;  lives  like  a  hermit,  66;  a  letter,  66;  pa- 
triotism and  friendship,  66-68;  diplomacy,  68; 
worships  Wagner,  69-71;  bombarded  with 
librettos,  91;  contrapuntal  skill,  97;  humour  and 
pathos,  98;  on  Thau,  98;  approves  of  feminine 
Juggler  and  Che*rubin,  102;  echoes  of  Wagner, 


244  INDEX 

109,  194;  on  Htrodiade,  114;  successes  and  fail- 
ures, 116;  both  scholarly  and  popular,  140;  on 
his  use  of  leading  motives,  143;  how  he  came  to 
write  Werlher,  145;  as  collaborator,  146;  visits 
Vienna,  148;  overcome  with  emotion,  149;  mas- 
culine strokes,  167;  "atmosphere,"  174;  writes  a 
war  opera,  174;  capacity  for  work,  205;  his  lib- 
rettos, 209,  215;  temperament,  213;  list  of  com- 
positions, 229-234 

Maurel,  Victor,  113,  115 

Mendes,  Catulle,  210,  217 

Metropolitan  Opera  House,  127-176 

Navarraise,  La,  170-176 

Operas,  described,  75-225;  chronological  list  of,  229- 

231 
Orchestral  works,  36-41,  54,  231-4 

Pasdeloup,  36,  40,  42 
Piano  pieces,  233 
Portrait  de  Manon,  Le,  199-208 
Prix  de  Rome,  28 

Religious  compositions,  41-52 

Ran  an,  49 

Renaud,  Maurice,  14,  15,  84-88,  100,  no-iu,  206 

Reszke,  de,  Jean,  Edouard,  Josephine,  87,  113,  115, 

155,  162,  169-170,  188 
Roi  de  Lahore,  Le,  52,  185-190 


INDEX  345 

Saint-Saens,  16,  43,  53,  114 

Sanderson,  Sibyl,  64,  75,  141,  147 

Sapho,  116-120 

Schneider,  L.,  23,  34, 61, 63,  64,  66, 112, 126,  205,  208, 

216,  230,  237 
Scotti,  A.,  141 
Servieres,  G.,  59,  188,  238 
Soleniere,  231,  237 
Songs  and  Duos,  232 
Streatfeild,  71,  238 
Suites,  36,  233 

Tchaikovsky,  47,  189 

Thais,  75-89 

Therlse,  214-216 

Thomas,  Ambroise,  24,  46,  67,  179 

Van  Dyck,  148-151,  230 
Viardot-Garcia,  Pauline,  43 
Vierge,  La,  49,  51 

Wagner,  69-71,  109,  117,  194 
Werther,  144-164 
Wolff,  Albert,  37 


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